Review and Recipe: Newmans Own and Meaty Ziti

I love to make pasta with red sauce and meatballs for dinner. One of my favorite comfort foods. But, Mr. G, isn't a really big fan of tomato sauce. Oh, he likes spaghetti sauce, but he wants a LOT of meat in it. I mean, he wants to see more meat then sauce. So when the good people of Foodbuzz Tastemaker's program sent me Newman's Own pasta sauce and salad dressings, I knew I would have to think really hard to make a recipe that he would like, still be tasty, quick and not cost much. Here is the recipe I came up with.

Meaty Ziti

1 pound ziti (can sub penne) pasta
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of Italian flavored sausage
1 jar of Newman's Own Pasta Sauce
Chopped Onion to taste
1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1 Cook pasta according to directions until the pasta is al dente—edible but still a little firm. Drain the pasta through a colander. Toss with a little olive oil so the pasta does not stick together while you make the sauce.

2 Brown well sausage and ground meat. Add the onions and stir well to combine. Sauté everything until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Then add the tomato sauce and stir well. Bring to a simmer.

3 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread pasta on the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole pan, then layer half of the mozzarella cheese. Layer on the pasta and then the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Last, layer the parmesan cheese.

4 Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. I have found if I cover this it keeps the cheese from burning and drying out the casserole since the meat sauce is so thick.

NOTES: You could use ground turkey meat and ground Italian turkey sausage and use different types of cheese I also served a simple green salad with Newman's Own Ceasar Lite Dressing and some Easy Italian Breadsticks in the Bread Machine which are out of this world good. I didn't tell Mr. G what I was making for supper and when I brought it out of the oven, he gave it a quick glance and asked, "How much tomato sauce did you use?"

Mr. G really did love this recipe and said it was "A Keeper". When I hear those 2 words, I know I will be making this recipe again. The sauce was perfect and I know I will be using Newman's Own pasta sauce for now on. This was a very economical meal with plenty left overs for another meal and I also put another serving in the freezer for later. We will eat the rest of the bread sticks when I make soup in a few days. Thanks Newman's Own for a great product!!

Be sure to check out the Coupon Database to find coupons to make this recipe.