Baked Ziti

This is an easy recipe that is yummy by itself or can be paired with chicken, salad, bread, steamed veggies, and many other options.

Ingredients:

- Your favorite spaghetti sauce (I don't have time to make my own so I used Prego)

- 1 box ziti pasta (tube shaped macaroni)

- 8 oz ricotta cheese

- 1/2 cup milk

- 8 oz sliced mozzarella cheese

- Pinch of sweet basil

- Pinch of garlic powder

- Pinch of Italian seasoning

Ingredients in a nutshell

Prepare pasta as stated on package.

In a medium mixing bowl dump ricotta cheese into bowl.

Pour in milk, add spices, and stir mixture. The consistency should be similar to pancake batter or slightly thicker. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Cut cheese into thin slices.




In an 8 x 12 inch baking dish. Prepare bottom of dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce.





In medium bowl add drained pasta to ricotta cheese mixture. Mix well until pasta is coated.

Dump pasta mixture into 8 x 12 inch pan.

Drizzle spaghetti sauce on top of pasta. Lay mozzerella cheese on top.

Add spaghetti sauce to top of mozzarella to keep the cheese from burning. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly warm.

Voila!!!

We ate our baked ziti with grilled chicken with Italian seasoning and a bed of spinach.

And no Italian meal is complete without a glass of wine. I am still not sure how you pair wines with sauces so I stick with what I like. We tried Yellow Tail Chardonnay. How do I pick my wine? Well I must admit that I do judge a book by it's cover just like I judge a bottle of wine by it's label. I briefly glanced at the description on the back of the label, but what sold me was the kangaroo on the front of the bottle.

Bon Appetit