Baked Ziti is a comforting pasta dish that is made with simple ingredients in less than an hour. Serve it with a salad and garlic toast to complete the meal.
Meat Sauce:
1 lb. ground beef
2 T. olive oil
1 white onion, diced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms, optional
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. can tomato paste
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 T. dried basil
1 T. dried oregano
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
Baked Ziti and Cheese Topping:
1 lb. ziti pasta
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
8 oz. Ricotta cheese
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
Meat Sauce:
Pour olive oil into a large, deep skillet, over medium-high heat; add ground beef; brown, 5 minutes. Add diced onions and mushrooms; saute 5 - 7 minutes until onions are soft and translucent and ground beef is no longer pink. Add garlic and tomato paste; cook 2 minutes. Pour in crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce; stir in basil, oregano, salt and pepper; bring to a simmer; reduce heat to low; simmer until pasta while pasta cooks.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Cook ziti pasta in well salted boiling water according to package directions.
Cheese Topping:
Prepare cheese topping in a small mixing bowl by combining cream cheese, and Ricotta and Parmesan cheeses; mix until smooth.
When pasta is done, add it to the meat sauce; stir to combine; pour into prepared pan. Evenly spread cheese topping mixture on top of pasta.
Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve hot.
8 servings.