Turkey Baked Ziti
This is a kid-pleasing, crowd-feeding, make-ahead casserole that will make everyone’s day. Turkey Baked Ziti from my “friend” Landyn over at Living with Landyn is a straight-forward ziti recipe that after you make once, you’ll no longer need to follow instructions. If you normally include meat in your baked ziti, I’m guessing it’s beef, so the swap out for turkey is a healthy choice. If you use whole wheat pasta, as Landyn suggests, you’re looking at another win. And if you do as I am likely to next go around and add some spinach to the meat/sauce mixture, you will have packed a well-rounded meal into that casserole dish. Nothing not to like about that. Enjoy!
Turkey Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey meat
- 1 lb ziti pasta whole wheat or regular
- 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 Tbls fresh basil chopped
- 1/2 Tbls fresh parsley chopped
- 8-10 oz shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- Salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Boil pasta, drain and set aside.
- In a medium skillet brown turkey.
- Add crushed tomatoes, fresh herbs, tomato paste, salt & pepper to taste, to the browned turkey meat.* Heat until combined and then set aside.
- Add cooked ziti noodles to the sauce mixture and mix well. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parmesan cheese, 1/2 of mozzarella cheese and onion and garlic powder. Mix well.
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Layer 1/3 of turkey/ziti mixture, and dot with spoonfuls of ricotta all over 1st layer.Repeat two more times. Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is golden.Let stand for 5-10 minutes after cooking. Serve.
Notes
*If I were to add fresh baby spinach, it would be done here. Heat until wilted and the set the sauce aside.