Taking the Challenge - ~* Three-Cheese Baked Ziti *~

Mar. 7, 2007 - ~* Three-Cheese Baked Ziti *~

Our family loves this variation of baked ziti. The original recipe comes from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner cookbook. I do not use the ground turkey that she calls for in her recipe. I use all ground beef (extra lean) (this will change the nutrition information given below).

TIP: to save time, I buy chopped onion in bulk and put approx. 1 C portions into small freezer bags and freeze them until needed. Additionally, to save time, I keep bottled minced garlic in my fridge.

Here is the original recipe:

1 pound ziti pasta
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp rosemary (I omit this)
3/4 C low-fat sour cream
3/4 C low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 lbs ground turkey
1/4 lbs extra-lean ground beef
1 1/2 jars spaghetti sauce (We love Classico's Four Cheese)
6 oz Provolone cheese
6 oz Mozzarella cheese, part-skim-milk, shredded

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
   Prepare pasta according to package directions. In a skillet, heat olive oil and saute' onion till translucent. Add garlic and rosemary, remove from pan, and set aside. meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the sour cream and cottage cheese together and set aside.
   In the same skillet, cook the turkey and beef together till crumbly and brown. Drain off grease and blot with paper towels (with this step the fat grams will be lower than what shows up in nutritional info below).
   Return the onion mixture back to the skillet. Add the spaghetti sauce and put on low heat to simmer.
   In the 9 x 13 - inch pan, start layering. First spread sauce on the bottom, then a layer of ziti, then sour cream mixture, then a layer of Provolone, then sauce, ziti, sour cream mixture, etc. Keep going till it's all gone. Then top with mozarella.
   Bake in preheated oven uncovered for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Per Serving:
544 Calories; 21g Fat (35.2% calories from fat); 31 g Protein; 56 g Carbohydrate; 3 g Dietary Fiber; 64 mg Cholesterol;
682 mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 3 grain (Starch); 3 lean meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat; 0 other Carbohydrates.

Serving Suggestion: A big green salad is entirely adequate for this rich pasta dish.

~*Sheryl*~

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