One-Pot Baked Ziti

Mmmmmm yum. I love pasta, and I also love the 5 cheese baked ziti at Olive Garden (classy, I know). So when I saw this recipe, I was really excited to try it out. The original came from Pinterest of course :). You can get the original link here. Me being me, I had to change some things, though not many.

Source

One-Pot Baked Ziti

¾ lb sweet Italian sausage

4 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more or less to your taste)

sea salt and black pepper

1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes

4 tsp basil leaves (dried)

3 cups water

12 oz penne noodles

1/2 cup whipping cream

1  cup Parmesan cheese + ¼ c for topping

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat your oven to 475
2. In your dutch oven (or other oven safe pot that can comfortable hold ~5 quarts), brown the sausage. Add the garlic and red pepper and give it all a good stir for a minute or so. *Note, use less/more of all these seasonings according to your preference
3. Add the tomatoes and use them to deglaze the pan. Stir in the basil with a dash of salt and pepper and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes. It should reduce down just a smidge (just enough to really meld and bolden the flavors).
4. Stir in the water and pasta and increase your stove temp so the liquid comes to a near boil. Let the pasta cook 10-15 minutes, you want it to still have a bit of crunch because it will continue cooking in the oven.
5. Remove from heat, stir in the whipping cream and parmesan. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed. Get it all good and blended then sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on top.
6. Pop it in the oven for another 15 minutes and let the cheese get good and melty (I like mine browned a bit). Serve and enjoy!

*You'll notice I call the dish ziti and actually have penne in the ingredients. A noodle's a noodle, use what you want. I didn't have the ziti I wanted so I used penne which is way easier for me to get anyway.

Some things I do to try to healthen it up some- I use whole grain or omega-3 pasta noodles. I'm also going to sneak attack Coach and season up some ground turkey instead of the sausage. I don't care too much for sausage anyway (ha-ha, get your laughs out now) so I'm anxious to try a different meat (and more laughs).