Oooey Gooey Goodness

Last night I made baked ziti for the first time.  All my husband and I could say was YUM YUM YUM.  He loved it SO MUCH more than lasagna.  I'd had it before at my sister's house.  Her grandmother-in-law is Italian and makes the most AMAZING food and ever since I'd tasted her baked ziti, I had been wanting to make it!

My sister's recipe calls for "sauce".  Seriously, that's what the recipe said...SAUCE.  I knew that it would be a SIN to use pasta sauce from a jar as far as she's concerned so I thought about what sauce to make.  My sister's recipe doesn't call for any meat, but I wanted to have meat in our recipe (we are DEFINITELY meat eaters in this house) so I used the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for her sauce in the Lasagna with Turkey Sausage Recipe.  I have used this sauce for both lasagna, pasta and now baked ziti and it's GREAT on everything.

Now that I knew what sauce I was going to use, here's the rest of the recipe:

1 pound ziti or rigatoni pasta
Sauce (see link to the Barefoot Contessa's recipe above or you can used store bought sauce if you'd like)
1 15 oz. container of whole milk ricotta cheese
1 8 oz. ball of mozarella cheese (can use pre-shredded kind)
2 Tbsp. Parsley (you'll need more because the sauce recipe also calls for some)
1 egg
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚.  Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling, salted water.  Mix ricotta with parsley, egg, salt and pepper.  Combine the pasta, sauce, ricotta mixture and shredded mozzarella in a large bowl.  Pour some of the sauce in the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking dish.  Spoon the pasta mixture into the dish and top it with more shredded mozzarella and some parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and it is heated through.  This recipe can be made ahead - just bring to room temperature and bake for 45-60 minutes instead.

Oh, I forgot to mention - this recipe ISN'T LOW FAT, but it's SO good!  I served the ziti alongside a simple green salad with balsamic dressing and some warm, crusty bread.  You don't even need the bread (I didn't even touch mine, but hubby used his to scoop up all his extra sauce) because the pasta and salad are filling enough!

Since this was my first time making the recipe, I wasn't sure if I could split it or not.  Next time I make it, I'll make the entire recipe, but split it between 2 smaller baking dishes and freeze one so we have dinner for another night.  This is the type of recipe that I also like to make when I want to bring dinner to a neighbor or friend because I can make one pan for us and one for them.  I just use a disposable foil baking dish from the market and wrap theirs in with tinfoil.  Before I wrap it I write the cooking instructions on the outside so they know what to do with it.  And just in case someone has a food allergy, I usually list the ingredients so they know they'll be safe eating it.  You could also make this when you need to cook for a crowd.

This recipe makes a TON of food so guess what we're having for dinner tonight?  LEFTOVERS!  I love those nights.