Food & Wine
Baked ziti
If you’re looking for a dish that’s similar to lasagne but doesn’t involve half as much fuss, baked ziti might just be the answer to your culinary prayers.
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
- 500 grams penne pasta
- Olive oil
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (or basil), minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
- 1 large jar of tomato based pasta sauce
- ½ pound of mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1 cup of ricotta cheese
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Method:
- To begin, preheat your oven to 170 °C.
- Heat a large pot of water and bring to the boil. Add a tablespoon of salt then cook at a rolling boil until the pasta is al dente (edible but still a little firm to bite).
- Drain pasta with a colander and toss with a little bit of olive oil.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan on medium high and add meat. Brown well.
- When meat is mostly brown, add onions and stir to combine.
- Sauté for about five minutes, until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown.
- Add garlic, rosemary or basil, Italian seasoning and red chilli flakes and stir.
- Cook for a minute, then add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a casserole pan.
- Dot the surface with half the ricotta cheese.
- Ladle a spoonful of sauce into the pasta, stir it well and then add the pasta to casserole.
- Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta, dot the remaining ricotta cheese over the pasta, and sprinkle on top both the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the cheese melted.
Doesn’t that sound delicious? And so easy to make! Have you ever tried this dish, or something similar? Let us know in the comments section below.
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