Laziti!

Sometimes you need to cook for a crowd, what’s easy and budget friendly? Baked pasta. So I’ve made both a lasagna and a ziti in the same week. So no matter which one you’re doing, this is the skinny on how to do it!

Laziti Recipe

Meat Sauce:

1 Pound Ground Beef

1 Pound Ground Pork/chicken/turkey

Handful of Pancetta (optional)

1 Large Can Crushed Tomatoes

1 Large Can/Jar Tomato sauce

3 tablespoons tomato paste

6 oz wine

Chopped Onion

Chopped Garlic

Cayenne

Salt and pepper

16 oz box of boiled pasta

Ricotta Mix:

12 oz Ricotta

Shredded Italian Cheese

Fresh Mozzarella, sliced, torn or pearls

1 Egg

Chopped Parsley

Chopped Basil

Salt and Pepper

Chopped Spinach (optional)

Heat your meats under a moderate flame. You don’t want a hard crust, you want to gently release fat, and cook the meat through.

Vegetarians: Feel free to substitute an assortment of diced eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, and tomatoes as the base of your sauce.

It’s GRAY! Don’t worry. It will be fine.

Drain your meat, leaving enough fat/juice to sauté your onions and garlic.

Season with salt, black pepper and a bit of cayanne

Add and cook the tomato paste. Maybe a minute.

Deglaze with the wine. Use red, white or rose. Don’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink.

Add the meat into the veggies.

Toss, toss, mix, mix.

lower the heat

Add a can of crushed tomatoes.

Add a can/bottle of Tomato sauce. Use good brands. Mutti, Cento, Contadina are all good.

Add some Oregano. If you feel spiffy, rub it in your hands first.

Cheese time!

Scramble an egg. This is controversial, some say it makes the ricotta wet. I say it makes it fluffy. A bit of salt and pepper

Add shredded parmesan, parsley and some fresh basil. If you’re feeling feisty, chopped spinach is yum here.

For lasagna, layer your noodles (boiled or the no boil kind) a splash of sauce, noodles, a bit more sauce. Then the ricotta. More sauce, then your cheeses. I like a mix of shredded Italian, and fresh mozzarella pearls/shreds. Finish the last of your layers with sauce, and your cheeses.

With a Ziti, it’s a bit easier. Mix your cooked pasta with about ¾ of the sauce, shredded cheese and fresh mozzarella pearls. Put a splash of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan. Half of the ziti, a splash of sauce, Ricotta mix, the rest of the Ziti. Finish with sauce and a mix of cheeses on top.

When you scoop this onto plates, you get happy.