Recipe: Baked ziti

Ingredients:
16oz Mozerrella
12-16oz Ricotta
honey or real maple syrup
1-2 eggs
a bit of Romano cheese
A pound of ziti, penne, or rigattoni (any tube-shaped pasta will do)
sauce
optional: 3-4 cubed zuchinni/yellow squash, or maybe small meatballs cut in two.

1. Boil the pasta per the package instructions for al dente pasta.


2. In large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, an egg or two, and a couple tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. You could also add in some dried basil if you like.


3. Cut up about 2/3 of the mozerrella into small (1cm?) cubes. Add this, along with any vegetables, meatballs, sausage, etc., and a cup or two of the sauce, to the large mixing bowl, and combine.


4. Layer about half the cooked ziti on the bottom of a (9"?) rectangular baking dish. Spoon about 2/3 the mixture from the bowl evenly on this. You may want to throw some grated Romano on here as well.


5. Layer the rest of the noodles across the pan, and then add the rest of the cheese/sauce/vegetable mixture, spreading evenly.


6. Slather on the sauce.


7. Take the remaining mozerrella, and either cut it into 9 flat, round slices, or grate it on top of the ziti. Optionally, grate some more Romano cheese over everything.


8. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes -- you want the cheese to brown just a bit.


9. Take it out and let it cool for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Sauce: You can make your own, or use a jar of premade sauce such as Newman's Own Marinara. Homemade sauce goes like this:

Ingredients:
2-3 large cans of Progresso peeled tomatoes.
2, maybe 3 cans tomato paste.
garlic
onion
sugar
salt
pepper
dried oregano
dried basil
wine
optional: 1/2lb to pound ground beef or lamb

1. Saute in a large pot (on low-medium heat) a couple of sliced garlic cloves and/or chopped onion in olive oil, until translucent. Use lots of good olive oil, maybe a cup.


2. If using meat, add it here, and saute until brown. You can add salt & pepper here if you like.


3. Add the peeled tomatoes, and whatever juice is in the cans.


4. Add a can of tomato paste; if the mixture is still ridiculously runny, add another can or two.


5. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, to take the bite out of the canned tomato acidity.


6. Add a cup or so of wine, and additional spices to taste.


7. Simmer, mostly covered, on low, for at least an hour. The longer the better.


8. Check it frequently, and add spices/wine/paste as needed. Better to underspice than overspice.

You may want to experiment with what vegetables you might want to add to this -- if you have some bell peppers laying around, dice them up and throw them in. Squashes work well, also.