Occasionally we have a theme night and this past weekend Aaron decided to rectify an error. This would be my cultural unawareness of that which is The Godfather. My knowledge of the movie could be summed up in one line: "Leave the gun, grab the cannoli." That is not good enough apparently. So he added the movie to the Netflix queue and we decided on a menu. A co-worker had brought in leftover baked ziti for lunch earlier last week and it smelled so good, we decided that would be our main dish. Along with that we'd have green beans and rolls. Then for dessert, some mini canollis (courtesty of Julia's, a great local bakery!). That would help with portion control!
The copy of the recipe I have for the Baked Ziti apparently goes on to a page 2 which I do not have so some of it became guesswork. It was tasty enough though that we happily enjoyed leftovers the next night! Written below is what we did.
- 1 lb. uncooked pasta, rigatoni or penne
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
- 15 oz. container part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 jars pasta sauce, divided
- 1/2 lb. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 C. basil, cut into ribbons for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown the ground beef. While it is browning, cook pasta according to directions. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, red pepper flakes, 3 T. Parmesan cheese and 1/3 C. pasta sauce. In a separate bowl, combine browned ground beef with rest of pasta sauce.
Now - because this recipe makes TWELVE servings of baked ziti as written - we opted to assemble two 8 by 8 casseroles in order to freeze one and bake one. My fingers are crossed the one in the freezer is as tasty as the one we baked immediately.
To assemble ziti, spray bottom of pan with cooking spray. Then spoon a thin layer of sauce and spread it around. Next add half of your pasta; spread across that the ricotta mixture; cover with half of the remaining sauce. Top with remaining pasta, then remaining sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella and rest of Parmesan cheese over all. Bake until cheese melts and is browned, about 20 - 30 minutes. Allow ziti to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
If you choose to make one large pan, the recipe calls for using a "lasagna" pan. I'm not quite sure what size that it is, but my guess would be an 11 by 17? Anyway, our 8 by 8 pan with six servings was perfect for us. That size filled us up completely when enjoyed with the green beans and a roll (plus the cannoli). As for The Godfather, I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing the sequels.
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