Monday, January 7, 2013

Creamy Baked Ziti


I have an announcement. A ground breaking announcement.

...no, I'm not pregnant (why does everyone think that when you say you have news??)

... it's bigger. And more exciting.

My husband, the baked ziti hater, LOVED this recipe. AHHHHHHH!!!! So exciting!

Ok, now that I'm over it, let's get down to it. I love baked ziti and my favorite version is San Giorgio baked ziti but John just doesn't like it. He'll eat it once in a while but he hates ricotta cheese. This is a problem since baked ziti is one of my all time ultimate comfort foods. So when Cassie posted this version of baked ziti without ricotta I immediately noted it on my "recipes to try" list. I told John I was making a baked ziti without ricotta and he told me he'd try it but not to get too excited, he had little to no hope of liking it. Well, he loved it. Landon loved it as well, eating three servings of this cheesy pasta. This is a winner in the Stephanie Cooks kitchen!

Source: Adapted from Cassie Craves

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ziti
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 26 oz jar sauce (or equivalent of homemade)
4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces shredded mozzarella


Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta and cook according to package directions; drain and return to pot. 
2. In a large skillet add butter and onion over medium heat. Cook until softened. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer until slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning and season with salt and pepper (and any additional seasonings you like).
3. Stir together cream cheese and sour cream in a small bowl.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8x8 inch baking dish. Add about 1/2 cup of the sauce to the bottom of the dish and spread evenly. Layer as follows: half of the ziti, the provolone cheese, the sour cream/cream cheese mixture, half of the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

4 comments:

  1. I never thought to make it with sour cream and cream cheese. I wonder, do you think greek yogurt would work in place of the sour cream?

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  2. YAY!!! I'm so glad EVERYONE in your house liked this!! :D (P.S. Your photo is so much better than mine!)

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  3. Yay! I make one like this exactly the same- sans cream cheese. We love it.

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  4. My mom makes a version of this recipe, but adds cottage cheese to the cream cheese and sour cream. It's delish.

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