recipe: baked ziti

photo from thepioneerwoman.com/

i needed some good freezer-friendly meals, so i took a Sunday and whipped up a mass amount of marinara sauce, then doled in out in a few small trays of baked ziti and manicotti. i'm usually not a huge baked ziti fan (i feel like it often has no flavor due to weak sauce or not enough sauce... it's just boring pasta), but i had a REALLY good batch of it a ways back by a gal who made it super-creamy, cheesy. that landed me at the Pioneer Woman's recipe, which was drowning in creamy cheese. 

i followed her recipe mostly verbatim, just cutting the amount of meat in half (1 lb instead of 2) and using turkey instead of beef + sausage. i also added a bit of sour cream to increase the cheese factor. 

i saved it a few small trays -- the tray i cooked up that night was pretty delicious, next test will be trying the freezer tray to see if it holds up.

ingredients list:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 can (28 oz size) whole tomatoes, with juice
- 2 cans (14.5 oz) tomato sauce or marinara sauce (or an equivalent amount of homemade sauce)
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb ziti, cooked until not quite al dente 
- 1 tub (15 oz) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 & 1/2 lb mozzerella cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg 
- 1 (8 oz) container sour cream (optional)
- fresh minced parsley (optional)




to make: 
heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. add onions and garlic and saute for several minutes, or until they start to soften. add turkey and cook until browned. 

add tomatoes (including juice), tomato sauce, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. stir and simmer for 25-30 minutes. after that time, remove 3-4 cups of sauce to a different bowl to cool down. 

in a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, 2 cups of grated mozz, sour cream, Parmesan, egg, and salt and pepper. stir together until just blended.

pour the al dente pasta into the bowl with the cheese mixture, and toss to slightly combine. add the cooled meat sauce and toss to combine. 

add half the coated pasta to a large casserole or lasagna dish (several smaller trays can also be used if you're planning to freeze portions of it). spoon half of the remaining sauce over the top, then top with half the remaining mozzerella cheese. repeat with another layer of the coated pasta, the sauce, and the mozzerella. 

bake for 20 minutes (covered), or until bubbling. remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley, and let stand 5 minutes before serving.