Baked Ziti

The past week or so I've been doubling my dinner recipes so I can have meals to freeze. After making a recipe that turned out way too big for our family and splitting it into 2 8x8s instead of 1 9x13, I realized how easy it would be to just make 2 of some things. During these summer months it seems like we're much busier during the day. It makes it hard some days to plan dinners, and we've gotten into a bad habit of eating out way more than we should. This baked ziti is one of those recipes that is simple to make and easily doubles. I'm actually going to post the doubled version since I never ever make the regular recipe.

Baked Ziti

2 boxes of ziti, cooked according to the directions

1 large jar of Prego (or I usually do 3 of the heart healthy smaller jars)

1 large onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork sausage

16 ounces of sour cream

8 ounces of ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

8 slices of provolone cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute the onion for 5 minutes. Add the ground pork sausage and ground beef and brown. When it is all cooked, pour the meats and the pasta sauces into the cooked ziti, and stir.

In a seperate bowl, stir together the sour cream, ricotta cheese, and mozarella. I usually add a sprinkle of dried parsley, dried basil, dried oregano, and fresh black pepper.

Grease 2 9x13 baking dishes. Spread a layer of the pasta with sauces (1/4 of the total in each dish so you'll use half of the pasta in this layer) in the bottom of each dish. Top with a spreading of the sour cream/ricotta/mozarella mixture, then 4 slices of provolone cheese per dish. Repeat the pasta and sauce layer then the sour cream/ricotta/mozarella layer, then top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

If you're going to freeze them, wrap them tight with plastic wrap and freeze them now.

To finish (a fully-thawed dish), bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheeses are melted.