Food For Friday: Cheesy Baked Ziti

 

A few months ago, a friend from our church small group brought us dinner and she brought by this delicious baked ziti.  We liked it so much we got the recipe from her and have made it several times since.  It makes a huge batch of pasta, so unless you are feeding a large family, it's another great recipe to either freeze half of or make a double batch to freeze one for later (freeze after you assemble it and before you bake it.)  When he has a choice, ziti is not my husband's favorite pasta shape, so I usually use farfalle (bowtie) pasta instead.  It's quick and easy to assemble, faster than a lasagna, but with a very similar flavor to lasagna.  Great, in my opinion, for a quick and easy dinner at home!  Serve with salad and garlic bread for a complete meal.

Ingredients:

1 box (approx. 1 lb) of pasta (I usually use Barilla Plus Farfalle)

1 yellow onion, diced fine

1 lb of ground beef (or a combination of ground beef & Italian sausage)

Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

2 jars of spaghetti sauce (I like to use Classico Roasted Garlic)

1 package (6-8 oz.) of sliced Provolone cheese

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Boil pasta noodles according to directions on package, until tender.  Over medium heat, spray a large sautee pan with olive oil and sautee onion for a few minutes.  Add the ground beef (and Italian sausage if using a combination) and brown the meat with the onion until it is cooked through.  Pour in the 2 jars of sauce and mix together.

Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray or olive oil.  Place half of the cooked pasta in the bottom of the dish.  Layer 1/2 of the meat sauce, all of the sour cream, and all of the provolone slices on top of the pasta.  Put the other 1/2 of the pasta on top of the provolone, then top with the rest of the meat sauce, the shredded mozzarella, and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese on top. 

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is bubbling.  (If you assemble and refrigerate before baking, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Allow extra time if baking from frozen.)

After removing it from the oven, allow it to set for 5 minutes before serving.