The holiday season
is all about friends, family, and delicious, make-ahead meals. After a grueling day of shopping is there
anything nicer than sliding a casserole into the oven, putting your feet up in
front of a crackling fire, and enjoying
a glass of wine while the luscious aroma scents the room? Sounds good, doesn't it? This recipe takes a bit of time, but can be
made up to two days ahead. Once baked it
can be sliced and served in individual dishes with an Italian
salad, slices of
crusty bread, and a glass (or two) of your favorite red wine. Always welcomed by company, it freezes well, and keeps, frozen, for up to 6 months. If choosing this option, thaw in the
fridge the night before and bake for ten minutes longer.
Baked Ziti
8 ounces ziti rigate
(ridged) pasta
2 tablespoons olive
oil
1 pound ground chuck
1 medium onion,
chopped
2 cloves garlic,
grated or minced
¼ cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup pitted black
olives, cut in half
Half of a10 oz. package
of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
and squeezed dry
1 jar pasta sauce (I
use Paul Newman’s Sockarooni)
¼ cup thinly sliced
pepperoni
1 recipe Béchamel
Sauce (see below)
1 8 oz. package
grated mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated
Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a medium stock
pot, cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Save 1 cup of the pasta water before draining
the pasta.
In a medium-size
saucepot over medium-high heat the olive oil.
Add ground chuck and onion, and cook until meat is browned and onion
soft. During the last minutes of
cooking, stir in chopped garlic. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, black
olives, and spinach. Stir in pasta sauce
until everything is well coated. If the
mixture is too thick, stir in pasta water, ¼ cup at a time, until
desired consistency is reached. The pasta
mixture should not be watery, but not dry either. This is a judgment call here.
Transfer half of the
pasta mixture to a 7” x 11” oven safe casserole
dish. Cover the top with the slices of
pepperoni, overlapping if need be, and then pour the rest of the mixture on
top, spreading to the edges. Top with
the béchamel sauce and sprinkle liberally with the cheeses. Bake for 35-40
minutes until hot and bubbly and the cheese begins to brown.
Béchamel Sauce
(Rachael Ray's
Recipe)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 bay
leaf
Freshly grated nutmeg
Place a medium-size
saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the flour, stir to combine
and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the milk, add the bay leaf and season
with some salt, pepper and a couple of grates of nutmeg. Bring up to a bubble,
turn the heat down to low and gently simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and discard.
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5 comments:
I kind of feel like this now:)
Sounds so yummy...I like your blog! Thanks for sharing with the Thursday Blog hop!
I've been wanting to try this dish for a long time. Thanks for the recipe and beautiful pictures. Found you via Katherine's blog hop.
I'm going to try your recipe. I really like baked ziti and have been making it for years, but this is a different recipe with that twist of a Bechamel sauce that I'd like to try. I don't recall ever putting black olives in mine, either, so that will be a treat!
Look SO good. I love the idea of a glass of white wine as the aroma fills the house! :)
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