We are staying with my in-laws for a short time until we find a house. I certainly miss having my own place but it is fun to have a lot of people around. My little boy Levi loves it here. He loves having a bigger place to roam around in and he loves the little dog. They are best friends. I am in charge of dinner once a week and so I have been running low on recipes to share with you.
Last night my mother-in-law called me and asked me to prepare dinner since she wouldn’t be home until a bit later. This recipe is the first thing I thought of. It’s so easy and quick and so good plus you don’t really need to look at a recipe for it. It’s basically a few basic steps and you can decide on each step what kind of pasta, cheese etc. to use.
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
1 lb pasta (ziti, penne, rigatone, etc)
1 lb ground beef
1 jar pasta sauce
grated cheese
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a few shakes of salt and pasta. Cook until al dente (tender but still firm.) *Note: Do not overcook pasta since it will be also cooked in the oven.
2. While the pasta is cooking, cook the ground beef. Season however you like to season your ground beef. Some suggestions are black pepper, salt, oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt etc. You could also add minced garlic or diced onions.
3. This step is optional but I like to saute vegetables and then add it to the cooked ground beef. Some ideas are mushrooms, green peppers, summer squash etc.
4. Add the pasta sauce to the ground beef and stir.
5. Mix with the pasta. Pour into a 9×13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.
6. Sprinkle cheese on top. Mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar etc. I like to use more than one cheese.
7. Bake at 350 F until cheese is melted. Broil in oven for one or two minutes.
8. Enjoy!
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