So I recently joined a freezer meal group in my neighborhood- once a month we will be getting together and each person prepares 5 meals of the same freezer meal. We then swap meals, sending each lady home with 5 different meals, ready to eat in a matter of minutes! Brilliant!
So here is my recipe for this month:
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry ziti pasta (or really any kind of pasta would work- I actually used Penne pasta)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 pound lean ground beef (season with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and minced garlic)
- 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (I added a zucchini to my sauce just for more veggies!)
- 8 slices provolone cheese
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes; drain.
- In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 2 8×8 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. Layer as follows in each pan: 1/4 of the ziti, 1/4 of the sauce, 4 slices of Provolone cheese, 1/2 of sour cream, 1/4 of ziti, 1/4 mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.
You can eat one for dinner now and freeze the other for dinner another day!
To freeze this meal: Follow the instructions above, except for the last step of cooking it. Cover the assembled ziti with foil and stick in the freezer (I usually use 2-3 layers of foil just to keep out the freezer burn). It will last in the freezer for about 30 days. When you are ready to eat it, remove from the freezer and place in the fridge to thaw 24 hours in advance. By allowing it to thaw in the fridge, you can cook it at the regular time and temperature (350 degrees for about 30 minutes). If you do not thaw it in advance, it will take much longer to cook. If you cook it completely frozen, it will take anywhere from 90 minutes – 2 hours to cook all the way through.
These fill the 8×8″ pans to the top, so I cooked mine on a large cookie sheet just in case they bubbled over (which they did!).
This was definitely a keeper . . . my whole family devoured it (even the kids!)!!
**If you are preparing this for a large group, you can use a DEEP 9×13″ pan, but be aware that it will fill it all the way to the top!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
I just need to get more recipes. And I want some that are healthy.. I am having a really fun time doing this. And have enough bags to last me.... for almost 19 days.. Now that is going to make my pocketbook fatter.. Since I'm on a very limited budget.
Julie at http://www.craftyimaginings.blogspot.com