Kid Friendly Baked Ziti

Almost five years ago I gave birth to my Lily bug. When you have a baby something really wonderful happens, your friends bring meals to your house so you can rest a little more and not have to cook. One of the meals that got brought over from a good friend was a baked ziti. Naiya declared it was the best baked ziti she had ever had. So I made sure to get the recipe from my friend. I make it a couple of times a year and everyone loves it. There has only been one hitch in that ziti recipe for me...it is not very waist-line friendly. Boasting three kinds of cheese along with some sour cream there is a reason I don't make it all the time. Everything in moderation, right?

The problem is that we really do like it, so I started experimenting with the recipe to make it a little lighter without losing any of the flavor. The first thing I did was to replace the sour cream with cottage cheese. This is a great substitution because cottage cheese is still creamy but it is lower in fat and higher in protein. Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it I had reworked the original baked ziti recipe into a whole new ziti. It went from a traditional ground beef baked ziti to a sweet Italian sausage, pepper, and onion baked ziti. I made it last month for my son's Birthday and it was a huge hit. Even Lily (my picky eater) had seconds and asked if I would make it again. If Lily approves it I feel a need to share it. We will still make the original recipe my friend made for us but it is nice to have more than one baked ziti recipe up your sleeve.

Printable version

Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Baked Ziti

(Serves 8-10)

Ingredients for sausage tomato sauce:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion; finely chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper; finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves; minced
• 1 pound of bulk sweet Italian sausage (Or one pound of links, meat removed from casings)
• 1 tablespoon of fresh basil; minced (or 1 teaspoon of dried basil)
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano; minced (or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup of red wine (something you would drink)
• 2 cans (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for ziti:

• 1 pound of dry ziti
• Sausage tomato sauce
• 3 ounces of provolone cheese; sliced
• 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese
• 6 ounces of mozzarella cheese; shredded
• 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions for sausage tomato sauce:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the onion, green pepper, and garlic. Saute until the onion becomes soft and translucent and the green pepper is soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add in the sweet Italian sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink. 
3. Add in the basil, oregano, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute, until the herbs are fragrant.
4. Add the wine, stirring to combine and get any of the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  Cook until the volume of the wine has reduced by half.
5. Add the tomatoes, bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. *At this time pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Directions for the baked ziti:

1. While the sauce is simmering cook the pasta. In a large pot of salted water cook the ziti until al dente. I take 2-3 minutes off the cook time so the pasta still has a little bite to it. You need to keep in mind that it will still be baked and soak up some of that sausage tomato sauce. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.
2. Pull out a 9x13-inch baking dish, set it on a large baking pan and set aside.
3. Once the sauce and the pasta are done layer as follows: spread 1/2 a cup of the sausage tomato sauce across the bottom of the baking dish so the ziti doesn't stick to it. Layer 1/2 the ziti, all of the provolone, all  of the cottage cheese, 1/2 the sausage tomato sauce, the remaining ziti, all of the mozzarella, the remaining sausage tomato sauce, and the Parmesan cheese across the top. The baking dish will be full all the way to the top. It's OK, that is why it is on a baking dish, anything that bubbles over will be caught there. Not that much will bubble over.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes to set slightly before serving.

*Leftovers freeze well.