Sunday, October 28, 2007

Fake Bake Ziti

Ok Deanna, here it is...I got this from Rachel Ray but have changed to suit my family's taste.

Ingredients
Olive Oil (to coat the pan)
1 lb ground meat (I use beef but it's up to you)
1 small jar spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce (I use Prego Garlic & Parmesan)
Fresh garlic, minced (I use about 2-3 cloves unless I use the Prego sauce, then I skip this ingredient all together))
1 box Ziti Rigate(although lately I've been using Penne Rigate)
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk or half/half (substitute beef broth if you want to reduce calories)
1/2 shredded Asiago cheese
1/2 shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1-2 cups Mozzarella cheese (depends on how cheesy you want the top)
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
Boil water and add pasta, cook until al dente (about 6 minutes).

In large saucepan, coat with olive oil and then saute garlic. Add ground meat and brown. Drain fat. Return to heat and stir in spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce. Season to taste, reduce heat to simmer.

In medium pot, melt butter. Add flour and cook for one minute to create roux. Once flour and butter are mixed well together, whisk in milk or broth. Whisk together well to avoid lumps. Once mixture begins to thicken, reduce heat and add asiago and parmigiano-reggiano cheeses and nutmeg. Whisk until cheese is melted. (You can really use whatever cheeses you like here, however I would avoid cheddar.)

Drain pasta and combine in large skillet with beef mixture. Coat all pasta with beef mixture and pour into baking dish. Pour cheese sauce on top of pasta and beef and mix together. Top with mozzarella cheese and broil in oven until cheese browns on top (about 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

1 comment:

Deanna said...

Oh my goodness, I don't even know if I have that many pans, skillets and pots! This looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing - I'm going to put this on the grocery list for next weekend. We had Paula Deen's "Lady's Cheesy Mac" for lunch with broccoli. Yum.