Saturday, February 28, 2009

Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey

Ok so I'm all about making dinners that are quick, easy, and healthy. This recipe is just that and you can even freeze it for up to three months and then just pop it in the oven for a quick, healthy meal that will be ready in minutes. I have just recently started meal planning, so this recipe is on our monthly list at least twice a month. I usually cook all my meals on Sunday for the month that are made to freeze and that way during the week I can come home and pop something in the oven and have dinner on the table in a matter of minutes. Philip loves this recipe and I usually serve it with a fresh garden salad or oven roasted asparagus.

Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
1 pound ziti noodles
1 pound ground turkey
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with seasonings (green pepper and onion or garlic and oregano, or any flavor you want)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 (15-ounce) container regular or part-skim ricotta cheese
4 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese, reserve 1 cup, for topping
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey in a hot skillet over medium heat and drain any excess fat. Add tomatoes, thyme and rosemary and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and garlic powder and mix well. Spoon 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish. Top with half of the cooked ziti. Top with half of the cheese mixture. Top with 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Repeat layers (remaining ziti and remaining cheese mixture). Top with remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese over top. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.

3 comments:

Stacie said...

sounds delicious... thanks for sharing! (you get phil to eat asparagus???)

anita said...

It sounds really good.... yes, thanks for sharing!

I'm going to ask the same question that Stacie did... Phil will actually eat asparagus????

Angel said...

I have started a dinner swap with a couple of friends and if you come across any other good "freezable" dinners, let me know! This one sounds great.