Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Baked Ziti: A Meat(less) Lovers Fancy Food


I'm trying very hard to break myself of the notion that all meals have to have meat in them. There are so many great meatless dishes out there, I just have always thought a complete meal had to have a meat and at least one starch and one vegetable. My brother-in-law Sam sent me a recipe that has no meat, but looks super easy and has the potential for becoming a healthy, quick fix meal idea. I took the directions he gave me and tried to lighten up the recipe a bit. Here goes:

Bake Ziti

1 bag of ziti pasta
1 bottle pasta sauce (I love Ragu Old World Style)
about a cup and a half of water

Mix all ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake for about 45 minutes (I'd say at about 350 degrees). Sam suggests dumping about 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese on top, which sounds amazing, but to make it a little lighter I'd sprinkle about 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan on top. After cheese, bake for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I love this recipe because 1-Dan is a HUGE fan of Italian food and 2-it looks so easy. I also like it because there are about a million things you could do to it to change up the recipe. I was thinking how good it would be with a little Italian sausage thrown in (there's my meatyness coming out) or with some grilled bell peppers or onions.

2 comments:

  1. you can add cottage cheese and make a cheaters lasagna too...

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  2. Oh that does sound good! And I HATE making lasagna. Its like an all day affair.

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