Easy Baked Ziti

I was recently searching for an easy baked ziti recipe and I came across this yummy dish from Taste of Home filled with cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese.


I know the picture is not super great, but you get the idea of how delicious and cheesy it is! It was a very simple dish to prepare, and I usually always have the ingredients on hand so that makes it even easier. Pair this with some toasty garlic bread and a side of vegetables and you have a simple, fast, and tasty meal.

Easy Baked Ziti

3 cups uncooked ziti or small tube pasta

1-3/4 cups meatless spaghetti sauce, divided

1 cup (8 ounces) 4% cottage cheese

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, egg, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and pepper. Drain pasta; stir into cheese mixture.

In a greased 8-in. square baking dish, spread 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce. Top with pasta mixture, remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer.

I have the best garlic bread recipe ever, and will be sharing it in an upcoming post, so stay tuned! I'm sure you could always use a meat sauce if you like to add more substance to your meal, although this dish definitely does not need it. And we actually don't eat a lot of meat at our house so I love finding good recipes without it!

Lemon Fusili with Arugula

Are you beginning to notice how much pasta we eat around here? I keep feeling like we eat too much. It is usually pasta or Mexican for dinner around these parts. I think this is because we don't eat very much meat. I can't seem to come up with anything meatless that is not pasta or Mexican. Occasionally we branch out and enjoy breakfast foods too. Does anyone have any good meatless recipes? Because I need help in the creativity department with my meals!

Anyway, this pasta is to die for. I was literally in LOVE with it and wanted to keep eating it all night. Now that I am posting it I am really craving it again. I l.o.v.e. the lemon cream sauce - it is yummy! Do yourself a favor and make this for dinner ASAP. Once you try it you will want to make it again and again.

Lemon Fusili with Arugula
Barefoot Contessa via Food Network

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 cups heavy cream
3 lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch broccoli
1 pound dried fusilli pasta
1/2 pound baby arugula (or 2 bunches of common arugula, leaves cut in thirds)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stem. Cook the florets in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander and place it back into the pot. Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add the arugula, Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli. Cut the last lemon in half lengthwise, slice it 1/4-inch thick crosswise, and add it to the pasta. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.

Vegetable Lasagna

Wow! All I really have to say about this lasagna is WOW! It is extremely flavorful and has lots of yummy vegetables inside. This picture really does not do it justice, but the colors in this lasagna are beautiful.

This is really a delicious and healthy lasagna. You don't even need to add any side dishes because it is so full of nutrients all on its own. Although I love to add bread and fruit just to add variety to our meal! This is a great meal to make in advance (the night before, or the morning of) and stick in the fridge to pull out for dinner. I am guessing it would freeze great as well. I will have to try that out next time. Give this a try - you will not be disappointed and you may even find your children enjoying this sweet lasagna (it does taste very sweet)!

Vegetable Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
1 whole medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 zucchini, diced
3 yellow squash, diced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Filling:
30 ounces ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb. shredded Mozzarella cheese
extra Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and lay flat to dry on paper towels or clean kitchen towel. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add diced red peppers and saute for another minute or so. Add squash and zucchini and cook for a few minutes. Pour in white wine vinegar, add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and stir. Pour in tomatoes. Stir to combine and let simmer for 20 minutes or so. Stir in chopped parsley.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

To assemble, spread a little of the vegetable/tomato sauce in a lasagna pan. Layer four cooked noodles in the pan, slightly overlapping them if necessary. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on the noodles. Top the ricotta mixture with mozzarella. Spoon a little less than 1/3 of the veggie sauce mixture over the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layering two more times, ending with a large helping of vegetable sauce and sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees, covered in foil, for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Serve with your favorite bread!

Ratatouille

A couple of weeks ago I made this delicious dish of Ratatouille. It was absolutely amazing. My 16 month old gobbled it up. He could not get enough. And my husband and I loved it as well. We didn't even have leftovers the next day because we ate the entire thing between the 3 of us. I was so bummed that we ate it so fast that I made it again last week.


Me making our masterpiece the first time. It got slightly too browned for a good picture after it was baked.

Our second go at it. I made a bigger batch the second time around. Aren't all of the colors beautiful? The pictures are prettier HERE where the recipe comes from.

Doesn't that look scrumptious? Here's the recipe:

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille
As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

Note: I put this over brown rice and it was delish!