Meat Sauce and Baked Ziti

Well on my third day off in a row I decided to make food for the rest of the week. Since I will be working 7:30am-2:30pm and then again 3pm-7/7:30pm for the next few months I am on the hunt for meals that I can make on the weekend and then enjoy all week long by just reheating it.

It's a cool and rainy day here in Rochester and this meal just hit the spot. I made a double batch of the Meat Sauce my parents made and turned half of it into Baked Ziti and then split the other half up between my fridge and my freezer so I'll have sauce for another week worth of food some other time. So here are the recipes, and a few pictures of the final products.

Meat Sauce (single batch)
Ingredients: 
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 Italian sausage (I use sweet or mild- it can be the patties or in the casing.)
1 small onion- diced
2 cloves garlic- minced (I used 1 tsp. minced garlic in olive oil that comes in a jar for convenience.)
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz. tomato paste
24 oz. water
1/2 Tbsp. basil
1/2 Tbsp. oregano

Directions:
1.) Brown ground beef and sausage together. If you get sausage in the casing just split it open and remove it. As you brown it make sure to break it into bite size pieces. Once everything is browned drain the fat from the pan.
2.) Add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook for 3-5 minutes until onions are translucent.
3.) Add tomato paste and water. I usually add the water by putting it into the tomato paste cans so that I can get an accurate measurement as well as all of the tomato paste out of the can. Once all of the tomato paste is thoroughly mixed in add the basil and oregano. This is also to taste. I usually add a little extra basil.
4.) Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Baked Ziti:

Ingredients:

Meat Sauce- I used a little under a full batch.

3/4 pound gluten free pasta- I used Schar gluten free fusilli. (It's the best g-f pasta I've found.)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Grated Parmesan & Romano cheese 

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x13 pan, cooking spray works well. 

2.) Whatever pasta you choose to use, cook 2 minutes less than what is directed on the package. During the baking process it will finish cooking.

3.) After draining the pasta add the sauce to it until you are happy with the consistency. 

4.) Add 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese and then a good sprinkling of the grated cheese.

5.) Add the pasta mixture to the greased pan.

6.) Top with the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese.

7.) Bake 15-20 minutes.

Finished meal:

To finish my meal off I added some garlic bread and a chicken patty with extra sauce and cheese on it. I didn't have time to make Chicken Parmesan for real so I cooked up a gluten free chicken patty, added extra sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese on top. I also toasted a few pieces of Udi's gluten free white sandwich bread (best g-f bread I've found) and put butter, garlic powder, and basil on top. Turned out to be a great meal. Take a look!

I'm looking forward to reheating the baked ziti all week! The nice thing about this meal is it is easy to make gluten free, just a pasta substitution. Enjoy the recipe and the outcome!