It's "Show Us Your Life" Dinner Recipes at Kelly's Korner this week. I've been looking forward to this week's post because I love to cook. It was really hard to pick just one recipe, but Baked Ziti is definitely our favorite recipe. Sorry I don't have any pictures to go with this.
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
* 1 pound dried ziti pasta
* Kosher salt
* 3 1/2 cups Quick Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
* 1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
* 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Pinch red pepper flakes
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain.
Toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, cubed mozzarella, half the Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
Quick Tomato Sauce:
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 pound sweet and or spicy Italian sausages, casing removed and crumbled
* 1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly
chopped
* Sprig fresh thyme
* Sprig fresh basil
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
* 1 pound dried ziti pasta
* Kosher salt
* 3 1/2 cups Quick Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
* 1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
* 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Pinch red pepper flakes
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain.
Toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, cubed mozzarella, half the Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
Quick Tomato Sauce:
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 pound sweet and or spicy Italian sausages, casing removed and crumbled
* 1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly
chopped
* Sprig fresh thyme
* Sprig fresh basil
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste
***So after I originally posted this I looked back through my past blogs and decided I couldn't just post one recipe for this. So, some more of my favorite recipes that I've already blogged about before are Ginger Flank Steak, which is the best steak marinade ever. I use it every time we have steak. Two recipes I got from Pioneer Woman Asian Noodle Salad and Lasagna. And a tip I got from Kevin and Amanda.com is to thaw out some boneless chicken breasts and marinate them overnight in Italian dressing (fat free works fine) and then grill them. I promise you will like them. It sounds too simple, but it is the best chicken! In March, I also posted several weight watcher recipes along with the points they're worth if you are interested in healthier recipes.***
I love baked ziti -- thanks for a great recipe (plus the quick sauce recipe!!).
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