Baked ziti...yum yum

I'm not much of a cook but I do like to dabble here and there. Once we get a new kitchen, then I'm sure we will graduate to more complex dishes. But for now, I'm sticking with the comfort foods. The latest creation was baked ziti (very adventurous, as you can tell).

Ultimately, most pasta dishes are a combination of bread/pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese. From that perspective, baked ziti is really not that different from lasagna. Maybe that explains why everyone kept on asking for more "lasagna."

Whatever you call it...here is the recipe:

1 pound of uncooked ziti
1 1/2 tbps olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp of minced rosemary
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 jar (26 oz.) of spaghetti sauce
6 oz. of sliced provolone cheese
3/4 cup of cottage cheese
6 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese (I love this stuff, so I put more in)
3/4 cup of sour cream (I didn't like it with the sour cream, so I would leave it out)

I was also going to throw in sliced Italian sausage but I forgot to include it! So I guess that is an optional ingredient. I also deliberately left out the parmesan cheese (gross!)

1. Cook the ziti and set it aside. I just boil it without any salt or oil.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the onion. Then, throw in the rosemary and garlic, and mix well. Set aside in a small bowl.

3. Cook the ground beef (and sausage) in the skillet until cooked throughout. Then, stir in the onion mixture and spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F.

5. I line a baking dish with non-stock aluminum foil, so that the dish doesn't get caked with sauce and pasta. I spread a thin layer of sauce along the bottom of the dish. Then, I spread about half the pasta in the dish. Layer the provolone cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream (if you so choose) on top of the pasta, and then top it with about half of the sauce. Then, layer the rest of the pasta, the remainder of the sauce, and the mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake everything uncovered for about 30 minutes. Since everything is already cooked in this recipe, you don't need to worry about exact cooking times.

As I mentioned, this is very simple. But is also pretty satisfying and makes great leftovers! I'm getting hungry just writing this...