Baked Ziti

This is one of Paula's recipes. She was going to post it a little while back, but forgot to take a picture and never posted it. It's delicious! It's a variation on lasagna (similar ingredients, different noodle). I made this the other day to bring to someone in my ward, and I almost forgot to take a picture of it, myself!


Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
12 ounces ziti (small tube pasta...I actually used penne)
2 lb. ground beef (I always use less than this...probably more like 1 1/2 lbs)
1 jar spaghetti sauce of your choice
2 eggs
1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese)
2 1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

**This time I decided to add a little to the recipe. I added a chopped up onion, some fresh mushrooms chopped up, a couple small cloves of garlic, minced, about 1/4 t. basil and some pepper. These additional ingredients are unnecessary, but they add to the flavor.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta. Meanwhile cook beef (I added onion and garlic right off the bat) and drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce (this is when I added basil, pepper, and mushrooms). Simmer. In a separate large bowl, combine eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese. Drain pasta and add it to the cheese mixture. Toss to coat.

In a greased 9x13 baking pan, spread 1/3 of the meat sauce. Top with half of the pasta mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe makes A LOT. It was enough for me to bring to a couple in our ward for dinner, for Paul and me for dinner that night, and for lunch for Paul for two days. I made this when I was pregnant and put it in the freezer to have when James was born. It's a nice, easy meal. But it's a bit expensive because of all the cheese.