NY Baked Ziti

From: My friend Lora

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chuck
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried leaf basil, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried leaf oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz ziti, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Saute ground beef, onion and green bell pepper in a large skillet until onion is tender and beef is lightly browned. Drain off excess fat; add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir well, stir in ziti and 1 cup of the cheese; transfer to a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Verdict:
Neutral. I've got several other pasta recipes in my repertoire that I enjoy more than this one so I probably won't make it again. Not bad, just didn't seem to have a lot of flavor to me.

Baked Ziti

No pictures for this recipe - it was gone too fast!

Ingredients:
12 oz uncooked ziti
1 tsp olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1/3 lb ground beef
1 tsp oregano, thyme and rosemary
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to directions.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and saute 2 minutes. Add beef and cook until browned; drain fat.

Add oregano, thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper; stir to coat beef. Cook about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

Spoon a small amount of tomato mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with half of the cooked ziti and then layer with half of the remaining tomato sauce and half the mozzarella cheese. Layer remaining ziti on top and top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake about 30 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:
I left out salt and pepper. I also used probably 1 1/2 - 2 cups of mozzarella cheese in the end. I didn't measure how much beef I used but I'm pretty sure it was more than 1/3 lb, too, because we like a lot of meat.

What I'll do differently next time:
I'll use less of the spices. Probably 1/2 tsp of each of those spices would be plenty to add flavor to the recipe. I also sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top after it came out of the oven and when serving, which I recommend highly.

Verdict: Thumbs up!