Baked Ziti With Fire Roasted Tomatoes

I mean who doesn’t love a baked cheesy one pot pasta dish??? I found this recipe over at the Muir Glen Website and I’m sure glad I gave it a try.

Before Christmas I received an offer from Muir Glen to purchase a pack of their special reserve harvest tomatoes. It was only 7 bucks so I said “what the heck”. Plus, the shipment included a nice little cookbook.

To my surprise, not only did I receive the tomatoes but look how cleverly they were packaged. Good job Muir Glen Marketing Department!

Wanting to try the Fire Roasted Tomatoes first, I saw this recipe, it sounded delicious. And it was. I even made a special trip to Whole Foods for some good quality ziti. I have a pantry full of whole grain pastas just to stay on the healthier side, but for the first try of this recipe wanted the whole devilishly sinful effect.

I was a little leery that this might taste too tomatoey because it had one can of tomatoes plus one full can of tomato sauce. I was wrong. This recipe is delicious and the mild. The sweet flavor of those fire roasted tomatoes mixed in with all that mozzarella cheese, ground beef and zucchini makes this a scrumptious pasta dish. Just serve with your favorite green salad and you’ve got a wonderful meal that you could even serve to guests at a dinner party.

I made absolutely no changes to this recipe, except for using my Dutch oven on the stove top, so I could easily transfer the meal to the oven. So, without any further ado, I present to you Baked Ziti with Fire Roasted Tomatoes.

• Muir Glen Baked Ziti With Fire Roasted Tomatoes:
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti pasta (8 oz)
• 1/2 lb extra-lean (at least 90%) ground beef
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 can (15 oz) Muir Glen® organic tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 oz) Muir Glen® organic fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse (kosher or sea) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

Preparation Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Cook and drain pasta as directed on box.

2. Meanwhile, spray 12×8-inch (2 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked.

3. Stir zucchini into beef mixture; cook 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling. Add drained pasta; toss to coat. Spread in baking dish.

4. Cover dish tightly with foil; bake 20 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Increase covered bake time to 30 minutes.

Substitution

If you like, use ground turkey or chicken in place of the ground beef.

Thanks to Muir Glen for such great products and for this wonderful and easy recipe. They’ve got a great web site, take a look at www.muirglen.com

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