Delicious and Easy Homemade Baked Ziti

There has been lots of fun stuff on the blog lately, but let's not forget to eat!  Here is one of our family's favorite recipes.  It's always nice to find something that we will all eat… especially something that gives us leftovers!

My friendship with this wonderful baked ziti recipe has been going strong for over two years.  I just looked and saw that I printed the original recipe from the computer on March 1, 2011.  I did a google search that day for a Baked Ziti Recipe and this is what I found.  Anyone who knows my southern husband, who bravely married me, a northern girl, knows that any recipe I find with "southernfood" in the url is a winner in our household.  This one did not disappoint!  You can view the original recipe here or follow along below.

Note: I LOVE LOVE LOVE making this recipe in my Pampered Chef RockCrok.  If you are in the market for a new pan or pot, this is a must have.  It is refrigerator, freezer, stovetop, oven, broiler, grill, microwave, and dishwasher safe.  Yes, that is all true.  You kind of don't even need anything else in your kitchen if you have this, right?  It is amazing and it turns this recipe into a one dish meal… and that one dish is dishwasher safe… did I already say that?  I have the Dutch Oven size but there is a smaller Everyday Pan as well.

Okay, back to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef or pork
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (just chop up one bell pepper, measurements don't need to be exact… or frozen is fine too)
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce (or mix a small can of paste with a can of water over low heat until combined and use that - I always have more paste than sauce around here!)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces ziti or elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:

• Sauté ground beef, onion, and green pepper in a large skillet until onion is tender and beef is lightly browned and cooked through.
• Drain off grease.
• Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper (if you don't think there is room in your pan, just do all this in a big bowl or transfer it now to the casserole dish for stirring and cooking… or get a RockCrock)
• Stir well.
• Stir in cooked pasta and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
• Transfer to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish (9x13) (or if you cooked AND mixed in the RockCrok already, you can just put that same pan it in the oven).
• Top with remaining cup of shredded cheese.
• Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

This recipe is delicious right out of the oven and just as yummy for leftovers!  

I love feedback and love recipe sharing, so let me know if you try this and love it or have another recipe for me to try next time!