Baked Ziti With Easy Homemade Italian Gravy |
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Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 60 Minutes |
Ready In: 80 Minutes Servings: 1 |
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Baked ziti with a quick and easy homemade Italian meat gravy. Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin) |
1 (28 ounce) can italian plum tomatoes |
1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree |
1 teaspoon dried parsley |
1 tablespoon dried basil |
1 chunk pecorino romano cheese (2-inch x 1/4-inch) |
1 lb ground beef |
1 teaspoon dried parsley |
1/2 teaspoon dried basil |
2 garlic cloves, minced |
2 tablespoons italian seasoned breadcrumbs |
1/2 teaspoon salt |
1/2 teaspoon black pepper |
1 lb italian sausage, with fennel 4-5 inches each |
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced |
to taste hot pepper flakes (optional) |
1 lb ziti pasta, rigatti |
1 lb part-skim ricotta cheese |
1 lb part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded |
1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated |
1/2 teaspoon black pepper |
Directions:
1. Gravy (2 hours before dinner or as early as a few days before) in a medium bowl mix together . . . ground beef, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1 clove garlic minced, 2 TBS Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Mix with fork until evenly blended. Brown meat mixture in olive oil in a 5 qt sauce pan. When cooked almost through remove.
2. Drain pan. Add 1 lb sausage. Brown well on all sides. Remove.
3. Drain pan well. Saute 1/2 lb sliced slice fresh mushroom until slightly brown.
4. Return sausage links and ground meat mixture to sauce pan. Add tomatoes, puree, 1 tsp parsley, 1 TBS basil, 1 clove minced garlic. Simmer 1 hour. Remove sausage, slice (1/4 ) return to pot. continue to simmer until ready to use.
5. NEXT. Fill large pot with 5 quarts cold water. Bring to boil. Cook ziti according to package directions (al dente).
6. While ziti is cooking mix together ricotta, 3/4 lb mozzarella, Romano and black pepper.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
8. Drain ziti well. Place in 9X12 baking dish. Add cheese mixture blend well.
9. With slotted spoon, remove 2-3 cups meat and mushrooms from gravy. Add to ziti. Add 1 cup extra sauce. Mix well. Top with remaining mozzarella. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. remove cover and baked another 5-10 minutes, until cheese melts and gets bubbly. You do not want it to brown.
10. Also works well with medium sized shells.
11. 1 cup sliced black olives may be added to recipe or substituted for mushrooms.
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