This is a tried and tested recipe for baked ziti pasta that needs very little changes. It is pretty much perfect just the way it is and makes an ideal healthy mid week family meal. Despite all the rubbish about no carbs in your diet they are essential for providing energy to our bodies and I never feel the slightest bit guilty when making this meal and nor should you. Actually now that I think about it I did make one change to this recipe and that was to how I layered it. I placed the sauce on top of pasta and then I added the toppings. Be sure to stir the sauce through the pasta to make everything nice and consistent. When preparing your pan grease well or spray with a good non stick spray, you will glad you did when it comes time to do the dishes because it makes cleaning a breeze. This recipe makes plenty so if you don’t have a big pan use two smaller ones. One lady emailed me saying she was disappointed because I never mentioned that this dish needed to be covered when baking I am sorry I just assumed everyone knew that. So please everyone – bake this with a covering of aluminium foil or use a covered baking dish. This is an absolutely delicious savoury and creamy dish and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do whenever I make it.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry ziti pasta
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
- 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Description
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
- In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.