It was a cheesy delight!
I bought some Rex Goliath Merlot to go with it. This is one of my favorite cheap red wines and it's literally cheap (only $8). The best part about it is that I know this whole bottle is mine because Vinnie doesn't like red wine :)
My little helper for the night. He either sits just like this, watching and waiting for me to drop some ingredients on the floor or he lays down on the kitchen floor and gives me those sad puppy dog eyes, begging for a treat. At least I don't ever have to mop my kitchen floors after I'm done cooking. Marley takes care of that. He was a good boy so he ended up enjoying a delicious bone.
Vinnie ended up getting home from work super late, right around midnight. So we didn't end up eating until really late and at that point the ziti wasn't as fresh as I was hoping it would be. It was still delicious though! What's even nicer is that we have lots of leftovers! I made this in a smaller casserole than what the recipe called for so we have even more leftovers than I was planning on having.
I got the recipe from Sara at Budget Savvy Diva.
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup onion, chopped
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (32 ounce) jar meatless sauce (fyi I could not find a 32 oz jar so I ended up getting a 45 oz jar and had tons left over)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of dried oregano leaves
1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta, cooked and drained (I used penne pasta because I couldn't find ziti)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven at 350
2. In a large skillet - heat oil and cook onions for 8 minutes, add garlic and cook for one minute. Add beef and cook until no longer pink (drain excess fat)
3. Stir in sauce, chicken broth, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano. Heat through.
4. Stir 1 cup of sauce into the cooked ziti pasta.
5. Place 1/2 of the ziti into a 13x9 baking dish.
6. Place 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
7. Top with rest of sauce.
8. Top with rest of pasta.
9. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
11. cook until cheese is golden brown.
Now I did do a few things differently. I placed the first layer of ziti in the dish, then added 1/2 of the sauce, then added the cheeses. I then added a second layer of pasta, a second layer of sauce, and some more cheese. I put it in the oven for about 20 minutes then pulled it out and added even more cheese. I then cooked it for about 10-15 minutes longer, until the cheese was golden brown. This seemed to work well. I think the above original recipe is missing a layer of sauce on the top. Although it was a late dinner, it was a wonderful dinner. Of course, after 2 glasses of wine and a bunch of yummy ziti, I had no problem falling right asleep. I am super tired today, though, I'm going to need lots of coffee to get me through work.
Well, I have one more night off of work until I'm back to my hectic schedule of working 2 jobs for the next two days. I have to get some laundry done and I'm definitely planning on having another relaxing netflix night at home with Marley.
Enjoy your day!!! xoxo
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