Baked Ziti

Last night we had my two cousins over for dinner. One of my favorite go to dinners for company is my recipe for baked ziti cause I can make an assemble the whole thing early in the day, put it in the fridge and then pop it in the oven before company gets here. That way I have time to visit with everyone PLUS the mess I made making the ziti can all be cleaned up so my kitchen isn't a disaster area! :)

So here it is:

BAKED ZITI

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
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Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

AND...here is the finished product!! I served it with a side salad and garlic toast. I loved it but boy did I have heartburn today. BTW...totally worth it! :)

A few side notes about the dish. Both the sliced provolone and shredded mozzarella come in 8oz packages not 6oz like the recipe calls for so I just add the whole thing of both bags. Can't ever have TOO much cheese!! :)

Also, when I make the recipe ahead of time and put it in the fridge for later I double the cooking time. So I bake it for an hour with it covered in tin foil and then after the hour of cooking I take the foil off and put it back in the oven for like 5-10 minutes to make sure the cheese on top is nice and melted and gets a little browned on top.

Another thing I do different is when the pasta and sauce are done cooking instead of layering it in the 13x9 pan I mix them together THEN put it in the pan! So it goes pasta mixture, provolone slices, sour cream, the rest of the pasta mixture and then shredded mozzarella.

I hope you enjoy and again if you end up trying this meal, let me know what you think!! :)