Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti

This is a dish I made before I knew what it was. I said, hey I have leftover spaghetti (bolognese) sauce, noodles and cheese I should make a casserole out of this. Then I found out that it is a classic Italian dish that is excellent. This is one of those meals that you can make with leftovers that tastes like you just made it fresh. Now that I have done some research I have found that my recipe isn't very traditional but who cares. It's tasty and filling.

Now if you don't have any leftover spaghetti sauce then you can use jarred stuff but I wouldn't recommend it. Also you can use whatever kind of noodles you like I would just stick to bite sized ones not linguine, spaghetti type noodles.

Ingredients
- 1 pound noodles
- 4 cups leftover bolognese sauce found here or store bought equivilant
- 1 pound mozarella, half cubed and half shredded
- 1 cups of half and half
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

The Process
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the noodles to a little firmer than al dente. While the noodles are cooking in a medium sized sauce pan add the bolognese sauce and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then stir in the cubes of mozzarella, half of the parmesan cheese and the half and half and stir until the cheese has melted. When the noodles are done, drain and return to the pan. Add the sauce to the noodles and stir well. Don't worry if it seems a little thin the noddles will thicken it up as it bakes.
2. Place the noodles in a large casserole dish then cover with the shredded cheese and parmesan. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is starting to turn golden brown.
3. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Using a spatula scoop out squares of the ziti and place on plates.
4. Enjoy!

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