Most Delectable Baked Ziti

Fresh Out of the Oven

I used this particular recipe a few years ago when I threw a Christmas party and it was a big hit. My guests had seconds and thirds, which is a good thing. I’ve been meaning to make this delicious dish again, but other recipes have gotten in the way. I guess deep down I was just being selfish, because once you have this dish, you will not crave the usual Baked Ziti ever again, I promise you. As you can see in the “Fresh Out of the Oven” picture, half of the dish was topped with sautéd green peppers. I received a bag full of home grown green peppers and I decided to add it as a topping for my husband, who LOVES it hot and spicy. Feel free to add green peppers to the whole dish as a topping or cook it along with the ground beef, onion and garlic. You can opt not to use ground beef/turkey to make it a lovely vegetarian dish. Throw in more vegetables too!

I highly recommend making this dish, especially if you like it cheesy. Next time I make this, I will use real Parmesan cheese. I keep on saying that, but I keep on forgetting to pick some up at the grocery store. So I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do! Serve with garlic bread and grated parmesan cheese.

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Ingredients:

• 1 Pound Dry Ziti Pasta (I used Whole Wheat pasta that I had on hand)

• 1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped

• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic

• 1 Pound Organic Ground Beef or Ground Turkey (You can choose to go meatless, it’s still quite delicious)

• 1 – 2 to 3 pound Jar of Traditional Spaghetti Sauce

• 6 ounces/6 slices of Sliced Provolone Cheese

• 1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream

• 8 ounces Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Optional: • 1 Green Pepper, Chopped

1. Preheat Oven to 350° degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to directions on the box. About 8 minutes.
3. Drain pasta and set aside.
4. In a large skillet, brown onion, garlic and ground beef/turkey over medium head. (Add green pepper at this step if you want to)
5. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
6. Using a bunched up piece of wax paper, grease a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with olive oil. Make sure you cover sides.
7. Layer ingredients as follows: 1/2 of pasta (bottom), Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 of sauce mixture, remaining pasta, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture.
8. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
9. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven.
10. Remove aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve.
12. ENJOY!

Serves 10 – NUTRITION INFOMATION: Calories: 515 – Total Fat: 24g - Cholesterol: 67mg – Sodium: 894mg - Total Carbs: 47g – Fiber: 4g - Protein: – 26g

Cooking the meat & pasta                                                   Simmering the meat sauce                                                             First layer of pasta

Provolone and sour cream layer                                                    Second layer of pasta                                                             All ready to go into the oven