Baked Ziti

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 16 ounces ziti pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 links sweet italian sausage
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 28 ounces tomato sauce or 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 3/4 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 lb cottage cheese
• 1/2 lb ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy cream or 1 cup milk
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• salt & pepper

Recipe

• 1 pre heat oven to 350.
• 2 cook ziti according to directions until almost done but still al dente.
• 3 in a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat.
• 4 take sausage out of casings and add to pot along with the ground beef.
• 5 cook until brown.
• 6 add onion and garlic to pot and continue to cook until onion is softened and sausage and beef are completely cooked.
• 7 stir in tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes), diced tomatoes and oregano.
• 8 simmer till thickened - about 10 minutes. turn the heat off and add basil and sugar. season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 9 in a bowl whisk cottage, eggs, parmesan and 1/2 a cup of mozzarella.
• 10 in a large pot (i use the same pot i used for the pasta) over medium heat whisk corn starch and cream (or milk) till thickened. turn the heat off. add cheese mixture and 3/4 of the meat sauce. mix well.
• 11 transfer to a baking dish. pour remaining meat sauce over pasta dish.
• 12 sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top of the dish.
• 13 cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.