Monday, February 16, 2009

Baked Ziti - Easy Italian Dinner

Baked Ziti

1 pkg. (16 oz.) ziti pasta or small penne pasta
1 can (26 oz.) traditional spaghetti sauce
1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta Cheese
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 lb of hamburger meat.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown and drain hamburger meat. (I don’t like the smell of hamb meat cooking without seasoning. I add some minced onions, salt, pepper, and some Italian seasonings) Cook pasta as directed on the package while meat is browning. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Mix spaghetti sauce, Ricotta cheese and reserved 1/2 cup pasta cooking water in large bowl. Add pasta, hamburger meat and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese; mix lightly. Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Cover.

Bake 30 min. Then uncover and bake an additional 10 min. or until heated through.

Add a salad and hot buttery garlic toast and you have a easy wonderful meal. My family enjoys adding corn to the menu, too. I melt 1 stick of margarine and pour 1 small frozen bag of corn into the melted margarine. Then I add 1/3 cup sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

mmm sounds yummy... but not very diet friendly haha

Anonymous said...

What do you do with the hamburger? Layer it on the bottom or mix it with the pasta and sauce?

Tracie Smith said...

Sorry, Anonymous, you mix the hamburger meat in with the pasta and sauce. This is really a very good and easy pasta dish! Try it, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

This sounds so delicious. Gonna try it this week!
Thanks,
Lisa

Anonymous said...

I mixed the hamburger with the pasta as a guess in what to do. It turned out excellant! Will make again! Thanks for another great recipe.