Baked Ziti
Why I Love This Recipe
My youngest sister found this and played with it until she got what she liked, then shared it with my older sister and me. We love it. Sherry likes hers layered but I prefer to just toss it all in & be done with it, I like EASY. I'm a bit lazy ;0)
Ingredients You'll Need
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 med onion-chopped
2 garlic cloves-minced
1 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
1 can 14 1/2 oz. diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can 6 oz. tomato paste
6 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp. worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried basil
3/4 tsp. dried oregano, divided
8 oz. uncooked rigatoni or uncooked medium tube pasta
1 carton 8 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1 ½ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (½ Cup in Sauce 1 Cup to cover top)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Directions
Heat Oven to 350
In a large saucepan, cook the meat, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, basil and 1/2 tsp oregano.
Cover and simmer meat sauce for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper.
In a 9 X 13 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray, spread 1 cup of meat sauce. Layer with a half of the pasta, a third of meat sauce and half of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers.
Top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and oregano. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until heated through.
I layered this one but when I dished it out on my plate, it was all mixed up so to me it doesn't make any difference.
