Baked Ziti v.2

This is pretty similar to Casey's, but I'll add it anyway.

Serves 8?

1 box of ziti noodles
2 jars of sauce (I used DelGrosso's Tomato and Basil)
Sweet Italian sausage (in patty form from the meat aisle)
mozzarella cheese
various spices like garlic powder, oregano, and salt and pepper

Cook ziti noodles. Layer sauce, cheese, noodles, and sausage pieces over each other. Add spices. Bake at 350 for an hour.

American Lasagna

Recipe from Allrecipes.com
makes: 4 servings
prep time: 30 mins
cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 6 dry lasagna noodles
• 1 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef, onion and garlic; drain fat. Mix in basil, oregano, brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoons salt, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until al dente; drain. Lay noodles flat on towels, and blot dry.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, parsley and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4. Layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 9x9 inch square baking dish. Cover noodles with 1/2 ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and 1/3 of the sauce. Repeat. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese over the top.
5. Bake in the preheated oven about 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I had some fresh parsley on hand, so i topped mine with that, and served with some frozen cheesy garlic bread.

Mom's Spaghetti

I'm sure everyone has their own spaghetti recipe that they love. My mom has been making this spaghetti all my life and it's my all time favorite spaghetti...I prefer it over any other meat sauce I've tried. Not to mention, it is definitely my "go-to" recipe because it is so easy and always good.

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground beef
1 small onion (diced) or frozen diced white onion
1 can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, & oregano seasoning*
1 can of tomato paste with basil, garlic, & oregano seasoning*
1 jar of red spaghetti sauce (I ALWAYS use Ragu but I vary the flavors...sometimes Parmesan and Romano...sometimes 6 cheese...sometimes Traditional)
1 box of pasta noodles (I use whole wheat noodles)
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

*If you can't find diced tomatoes and/or tomato paste with basil, garlic, & oregano seasoning, that's fine...just get the regular kind.

Directions:

In a large pan, simmer diced onions in 1-2 T of olive oil on medium heat. As onions become translucent, add ground beef and cook until completely browned. Drain fat and water off of the beef/onion mixture and return to stove. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and spaghetti sauce to beef/onion mixture, and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Continue simmering to heat all the ingredients, but turn the eye down some.

While preparing the sauce, cook pasta noodles according to directions.

After the noodles are cooked, I always add noodles to my pasta sauce directly and mix everything together. I find that it keeps better this way in the fridge and the freezer. I know some people prefer to add sauce to their noodles when they eat the spaghetti, so it's all a matter of preference.

Top with grated parmesan cheese and serve!