Kacie’s Baked Ziti

While at my mother-in-law’s house before Christmas, I made the best batch of baked ziti I’ve ever made (I don’t know if this is technically ziti, but it’s what I’m calling it). My husband loved it so much, he took a picture. He wanted me to write down exactly what I did, so it will be the same the next time I made it.

• 1.5 lbs. ground beef ($2)
• 2 jars marinara sauce (I used two Prego jars for this one, wish I could remember the specific flavors!) ($2)
• onion ($0.10)
• garlic
• whatever seasonings you like to add to marinara sauce (for me, I like to add basil, garlic powder, and ground pepper)
• box (16 oz.) ziti-style pasta (I used mostacolli rigati) ($1)
• about 1 cup of Parmesan cheese (? $0.50?)
• 16 oz. container of cottage cheese (I used the fat-free variety) ($1)
• half to whole stick of butter (depending on just how fattening you want this recipe to be) $0.25)
• 8 oz. package of sliced or shredded provolone cheese ($2)

Total: $8.85

The day before I planned on serving the dish, I cooked the meat sauce. I sauted a chopped onion and some garlic, and browned the ground beef. I added the marinara sauce and took it to a boil, and then let it simmer for about an hour. I think cooking this sauce in advance and letting it meld overnight really helped the flavor.

The next day, I boiled a pot of salted water, and cooked the pasta. Once it was done, I drained it and stirred in a stick of butter. Healthy, I know. But, I think it added tremendous flavor to the overall dish, since previously, the noodles didn’t have great flavor.

After stirring in the butter, I added the Parmesean. It started getting really cheesy and delicious at that point. I added the cottage cheese next. I think if you wanted, you could add some shredded provolone at this point. Mmm. Cheese.

Ok, now for the layering.

Put a good several spoonfuls of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 sturdy pan. You’ll want a thick enough layer where you can’t see the bottom of the pan, and then a little extra. Maybe .5 inch? Dunno.

On top, put about half of your cheesy, buttery noodles.

Add a bunch of the marinara sauce to the top of that, maybe slightly more than half of your remaining sauce.

Put the rest of your noodles on top of that.

Add the slices or sprinkles of Provalone, and top it off with the rest of your marinara sauce.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to one hour. You might put a larger cookie sheet underneath, in case your pan overflows a little and drips (mine did).

It takes awhile to make, and several steps, but it really is delicious, and will feed a lot of people. It’ll make good leftovers for whenever you want to eat it next, as well.