Family Food

At work yesterday a Williams-Sonoma catalogue came in the mail. And I just can't resist a kitchen/cooking catalogue or magazine. So as I was flipping through it I saw a really yummy picture of baked ziti. And the great thing about Williams-Sonoma catalogues is that they have the recipes in them! So I wrote down the recipe on my phone and headed to the grocery store after work so that I could make it for supper. I changed the Williams-Sonoma recipe a bit to fit our tastes so I will include the variations in the recipe below. The original recipe calls for sausage and I used ground beef instead.

Now let me take a moment to tell you how good this turned out! First of all, for those of you who know me, I only eat chicken when it comes to meat. And last night I had TWO helpings of this! That's how good it was! I didn't eat all of the meat on my plate, but the sauce and cheese covered up the taste of the meat enough to where I gobbled it all up! Second, my husband gave it a rating of "awesome!" And this makes a LOT so if you have a big family to feed you must try this! Or if its just two of you then you can freeze some for later. Put some of the mixture in a dish and into the oven for now and put the rest in the freezer before you bake it and then when you are ready just take it out and bake as directed. You might need to keep it in a bit longer since it was frozen first.

Try this! You'll be glad you did!

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• 4tsp. plus 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (I used 1.2 lb of ground beef, 85/15)
• eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I omitted this all together)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (I used merlot)
• 1 can (28 oz.) crushed plum tomatoes with juices (I used Hunt's crushed tomatoes with basil)
• 5 oz. ziti, cooked until al dente (I used a whole box of ziti)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup rinsed chopped Kalamata olives (This is what puts this over the top! Don't leave 'em out)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I used shredded Parmesan cheese)

Directions:

Position a rack in the upper third of an oven and preheat to 400°F.

In a 10 or 12-inch fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tsp. of the olive oil. Add the sausage (or beef) and cook, stirring and crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Discard all but 1 Tbs. of the fat in the pan. Set the pan over medium-high heat and warm 2 tsp. of the olive oil. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, under tender and browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. (I skipped this step all-together because I didn't add eggplant.)

Set the pan over medium heat and warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Add the sausage, pasta, basil, olives, 2 cups of the mozzarella and the tomato sauce to the bowl with the eggplant and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta mixture to a big oven proof casserole dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and the Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. Cover the dish (use tin foil if your dish doesn't have a lid), transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover the dish and broil at 500°F for 5 minutes. (Keep an eye on it while it's broiling. I broiled it on high and the cheese was bubbly and brown after 3 minutes.) Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6 -8.

HR = Awesome!