Baked Ziti Casserole

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained (i use extra lean)
• 1 (20 ounce) can hunts four cheese pasta sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can hunts tomato paste
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 (12 ounce) package ziti pasta (i use barilla brand)
• 16 ounces small curd cottage cheese (full fat variety not fat free or skim)
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (not the kind in the green tube but the kind in the cheese section that you grate or comes grated in )
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 10 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 (15 ounce) can black olives
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350.
• 2 cook and drain ground beef.
• 3 saute green pepper, onion, and mushrooms and add to ground beef.
• 4 add onion powder and garlic powder, oregano and 3 tablespoons of the tomato paste. stir and set aside while you cook pasta.(al dente).
• 5 drain cooked pasta and set aside.
• 6 stir together the cottage cheese, sour cream.
• 7 slice the black olives and add to the cottage cheese mixture.
• 8 mix the spaghetti sauce and remaining tomato paste with the ziti.
• 9 spray 9x13 pan with non stick spray.
• 10 place half the noodles in the pan.
• 11 top with meat mixture and a layer of parmesan cheese.
• 12 top with the cottage cheese and sour cream mixture.
• 13 top with a layer of the mozarella cheese.
• 14 top with the other half of the noodles and a final layer of parmesan cheese (the inside layers of cheese can be thin, just enough to add a cheesy layer).
• 15 bake uncovered 30 minute or until hot and bubbly and cheeses are melted.