Baked Ziti

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of Italian food. Give me a good pasta and wonderfully rich and meaty sauce and I am a happy camper. My typical birthday dinner request year after year is lasagna. There are few things in life as pleasurable as mopping up the last bits of marinara sauce from the plate with a crusty piece of italian bread. I am salivating at the thought of it.

So, when The Beauty (the nickname I have for my lovely wife of 19 years) and I sat down to plan our dinner menu last week (more later on how we go through that process), I decided that a baked ziti would be a nice switch from the usual spaghetti and fulfill my weekly need for pasta and sauce.

The following recipe is from the Taste of Home Cookbook and just explodes with flavor and cheesy goodness! My personal thoughts and observations appear in bold print.

Prep Time: 20 minutes + simmering time
Bake: 1 hour

1/2 pound lean ground beef (an 80-85% lean will give you the best flavor)
1 medium onion, chopped (we left this out as I am not a big fan of onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-3/4 cups meatless spaghetti sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
8 oz. uncooked ziti
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. In a large saucepan, cook the beef, 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 teaspoon oregano.

2. Cover and simmer meat sauce for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. (The night I decided to make this dish, I did not have time to simmer for 3 hours and simmered for 1-1/2 hours instead which produced a wonderfully flavorful sauce. The key is to simmer long enough over a low heat to allow the flavors of the sauce to blend and the spices to become infused.) Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. (I recommend you cook it to just shy of al dente as it will continue to cook and soften when the sauce is added and it bakes). In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper.

3. In a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish, spread 1 cup of meat sauce. Layer with half of the pasta, a third of the meat sauce, and half of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers. (Just like you're building a lasagna!).

4. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and oregano. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until heated through. (If you love cheese as much as we do, you can sprinkle another cup or so of shredded mozzarella on the top before baking. Remove cover with about 20 minutes to go for a nice, cheesy crust on the top!)

Yield: 6 servings (We easily doubled the recipe to feed our hungry brood of 5 and still have leftovers for lunch the next day)

While it isn't the healthiest dish (a 1-1/3 cup serving has 431 calories, 14g of fat, and 50g of carb) it is high in protein and fiber and, when paired with a nice green salad and some good crusty bread, is a meal that invokes all the best in Italian cooking in terms of sight, smell, and flavor!