Gluten free baked ziti with beefy tomato sauce
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
1 pound 80/20 percent lean ground beef
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounce size) stewed tomatoes
1 can (4 ounce size) tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pound gluten free ziti shaped pasta or other gluten free tube shape pasta
2 teaspoons salt
8 ounces low fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Cook Meat: In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, cook meat over medium high heat, turning often and breaking up into pieces, until just browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Add Onion & Garlic: Add onions and garlic to meat and stir to combine. Continue cooking until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until most of the water has evaporated, about 10 minutes.
3. Drain Meat: Drain meat in a colander in the sink, pushing down on the meat with the back of a large spoon to remove excess grease. Return drained meat to pan.
4. Simmer Sauce: Add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, rosemary and thyme to cooked beef and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring often, 20 minutes. While sauce simmers, make pasta.
5. Preheat Oven: Adjust oven rack to center position. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
6. Cook Pasta: Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large cooking pot for the pasta. When water boils, add 2 teaspoons salt and pasta, and stir well. Bring pasta to a boil, stirring often until water returns to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain cooked pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid aside.
7. Mix Cheeses: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, chopped basil, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese until combined.
8. Combine Pasta and Sauce: Add drained pasta to the pot with the sauce and stir well to combine. If pasta and sauce seems too dry, add a bit of the reserved pasta water.
9. Assemble Pasta: Spread half of the pasta mixture into a greased 9 inch x 13 inch casserole baking dish. Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over pasta. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese over cottage cheese mixture. Spread remaining pasta mixture evenly over that. Dollop remaining cottage cheese over top of ziti. Pour remaining reserved pasta water evenly over pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
10. Bake & Serve: Bake until cheese is golden brown and edges are bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
