Easy Peasy Baked Ziti

You’ll see that I share recipes on here from time to time & I will just start with saying that I am not overly creative in the kitchen. Most of the things I make are my tried and true recipes that my family has been making forever or slight modifications I make to meals that I find on the internet. My definition of a dinner meal is something super easy & yum.

Josh can’t always have certain things at dinner (depending on his meal plan) & the most typical thing he cuts at dinner is carbs, so this meal is not in the rotation as much as I’d like, but this is what my roommate & I lived off of in college.

Okay well without further ado, the most basic & easy baked ziti around —

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 box ziti or penne pasta (12-16oz)
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 egg
• 2-3 cups of shredded mozzarella
• 1 large jar of sauce

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles to al dente
2. Cook and brown the meat to done
3. Mix together egg, cheese and ricotta
4. After meat is browned, combine with sauce
5. Layer the bottom of a 13×9 pan with sauce mixture.
6. Add a layer of noodles, then a layer of ricotta mixture.
7. Sprinkle mozarella cheese on top.
8. Repeat these layers until ingredients are gone.
9. **Save enough sauce to cover top layer of noodles or noodles will be hard
10. Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350 (until sauce is bubbly)

Seriously, its about as easy as it gets. There are a few things I love about this recipe. First, you can also take the mixture/filling & stuff shells with it, top with sauce and bake the same way. Second, there’s no wrong way to layer (thick or thin layers) — whatever works best for you. Lastly (this is what I do since its just Josh & I), you can easily make it in two smaller pans (8×8) and bake one for dinner tonight and freeze one for later (or give one to a friend). If you’re going to freeze it, assemble as directed, then pop into the freezer instead of the oven. I recommend thawing the day before in the fridge & you might need to add a few extra minutes when you bake it if it didn’t get to thaw all the way through.

Alright, if you have any questions or I forgot anything, let me know!

XOXO,

Hil