Baked Ziti With Mini Meatballs
This is another baked ziti recipe. If available, use authentic italian brands of sauce and crushed tomatoes. The italian brands of canned tomatoes are all 28 oz--just use a bit less. when forming the meatballs, test for consistency: the meatball should hold together well. If too soft then add some bread crumbs. If too stiff then add a bit of water. i use a lasagna pan for this ( spray with non-stick spray for easiest cleanup)
Steps
1.
Cook ziti until al dente and then rinse to cool and set aside.
2.
Mix ground meat , onion , bread crumbs , 1 tsp garlic salt , 1 / 4 tsp pepper , 1 egg and 1 / 2 tsp basil.
Form into small meatballs.
Then cook the meatballs in the olive oil until the meatballs are browned and cooked through.
Drain off the fat then set aside.
3.
Mix the ricotta , 1 tsp garlic salt , 1 / 2 tsp basil , 1 / 2 tsp parsley , 1 / 4 tsp pepper , 1 / 2 of mozzarella and 1 egg together.
Set aside.
Then mix the ricotta mixture with the ziti and set aside again.
4.
Mix the jar of pasta sauce and the basil crushed tomatoes together then set aside.
5.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.
6.
Assemble: 1 / 3 of the sauce- followed by 1 / 2 of the ziti / ricotta / mozzarella-followed by the meatballs- then -- 1 / 3 sauce - followed by the rest of the ziti / ricotta / mozzarella mix- followed by the last 1 / 3 of the sauce followed by the rest of the mozzarella and sprinkled with the parmesan cheese.
7',.
Ingredients
ziti pasta, pasta sauce, tomatoes with basil, part-skim ricotta cheese, part-skim mozzarella cheese, eggs, lean ground meat, olive oil, onion, italian seasoned breadcrumbs, garlic salt, basil, parsley, pepper, parmesan cheese