Baked Ziti

We all know the relentless beating the east coast has been taking lately weather wise, so I feel guilty saying this but, this past Thursday we had rain and I couldn't have been happier! It was a wet, dreary, gloomy day, with the rain carrying into the evening.

I don't know about you but when it is cold and rainy outside all I want to do cuddle up near the fire with a good glass of red wine and some yummy comfort food. So for our first rain of the season, that is exactly what we did! I made a version of this recipe I stumbled across a while back in Food and Wine Magazine for Baked Ziti, it was the perfect dinner for a chilly fall evening.

Baked Ziti

• 1 pound Ziti or Penne
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound lean ground sirloin
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I used a lot more to give it some kick!) 
• Salt
• 1 jar of marinara sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of ricotta
• 1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic.

Bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until just about al dente. While the pasta is cooking, in a large, deep skillet, warm the olive oil and add the onion and garlic, cook until soft. Then add the sirloin, red pepper flakes, and season with salt. break up the meat and cook until the meat is no longer red.

Once the pasta has cooked, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the marinara to the sirloin, bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Begin to add the cooked pasta to the meat and marinara mixture, if you don't have a deep skillet this can get tricky... Then begin adding the ricotta, stirring it in into the mixture in large dollops.

Grease a 9x13" baking dish, then pour half of the ziti mixture into the baking dish, then top the ziti with half of the mozzarella and half of the parmigiano. I didn't exactly follow the recipe with regards to the cheese I am sure I added a lot more, you never can go wrong when adding more cheese! Pour the remaining ziti into the baking dish and top with the rest of the cheese.

Bake on the top rack of the oven for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it, remove from the oven when the cheese is bubbly and browned. Open a bottle of wine, get a fire going, and enjoy on a rainy night!