Sarah Hope at Home: Baked Ziti

Tonight's dinner was baked ziti. It's another quick and easy pasta dish and spaghetti alternative.

This makes a big 9x13 pans. You can easily divide into two 8x8 pans to freeze one or give one away.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1/2 box ziti pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 tub (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 8oz bar mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup (or more) parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef (not pictured)
1/2 cup pasta water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook pasta and drain, reserving 1/2 cup of water.
3. Brown the ground beef and drain.
4. Mix spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese, & pasta water in large bowl. Stir it really well to make sure the ricotta is "dissolved" (no big chunks.)

5. Add pasta, meat, and 1/2 cup mozzarella to the sauce mixture. You could buy a package of pre-shredded mozzarella, but I always get a bar and shred it in myself in my food processor. It takes about 10 seconds and it melts so much better (and tastes so yummy!)
6. Spoon the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.