Freezer Meal: Baked Ziti

On tap for dinner tonight is one of my favorite freezer meals - baked ziti.  I always wanted a good baked pasta recipe and looked far and wide on the Internet for something that wasn't gross and didn't require an Italian grandmother.  We didn't make a lot of complicated Italian dishes growing up so I had no knowledge base to build upon for this genre of food. 

When I was pregnant with Isabella, I heard that it was helpful to have some meals already pre-made in the freezer.  During those trying newborn days, apparently it is amazing to just have a few (dozen) meals left to your disposal in the freezer that you can just defrost and cook in the oven.  Armed with this knowledge I scoured the Internet in search of recipes that I could try.  My husband and I tend to eat the same types of food and so a lot of the recipes that I found were quickly dismissed into the "not willing to try" pile, but I did find a few recipes that sounded interesting. 

I made them all one week day with my mother's help and lo and behold: amazing!  The meals were made for us and only required a few tweaks which was another helpful thing.  I adapted this recipe from this blogger and have made a version of it like 900 times more simple if you aren't totally in love with the idea of making your own sauce.  Don't get me wrong, I love making my own spaghetti sauce.  It's SO much better than anything that you can buy in the jar and relatively easy depending upon the recipe that you are using.  However, there are times when I just want to be able to cook and be done in less than 2 hours, which is when this recipe comes in handy. 

This recipe will make two 8x8 or 9x9 pans.  I usually make one for dinner (with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch) and freeze one before baking.  I simply line the pan with aluminum foil, pour in the ingredients, and freeze.  Once the casserole is frozen solid you can remove the foil from the pan.  I always wrap at least one more layer of foil around the food and label with the food, the date, and heating instructions that way I don't have to search the archives to find out how to reheat. 

Baked Ziti
1/2lb cottage cheese
8-10 ozs ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 cups Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup onion, grated
28oz spaghetti sauce
1lb ziti or penne rigate
8oz mozzarella, shredded
1 1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage and ground beef
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup milk
1 tsp cornstarch
salt & pepper to taste

 Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring water to boil and cook pasta until al dente - about 7 minutes.  Drain the pasta and set aside.  Mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, & 1 cup Parmesan cheese together in a bowl and set aside.
Cook meat until brown and add in the onion and garlic.  Continue to cook until the onion is translucent and softened. Add in your favorite spaghetti sauce and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and milk.  Pour it into the now-empty stockpot over medium heat. Simmer and cook until thickened - about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cottage cheese, egg and Parmesan mixture, 2 cups of the spaghetti sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella. Combine. Add all of the pasta and stir to combine.

Split the pasta into 2 dishes and spread the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top. Sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan over the top of the dishes.

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes and then uncovered for another 30 minutes.  If frozen, thaw completely and follow normal cooking instructions. 

This is my favorite baked pasta dish and surprisingly easy.  It also reheats really well.  You can substitute whatever ground meat you feel like for the sausage and the ground beef.  We have used all sausage, all ground beef and a mixture of the two.  I like the mixture because it yields different flavors.  I also buy a spaghetti sauce with extra basil in it but you can definitely use your favorite one. 

I hope you enjoy!!

-Sara