Vegetable Baked Ziti

Hurricane Irene has come and gone, and we are thankfully all doing well.  We enjoyed a relaxing day, expecting to stay in, and not move too far from the couch.   However, curiosity got the best of us, so we had to check out our neighborhood. 

Pretending to swim...here's me on our corner that always floods... it's a lovely shade of toxic green....yuck!  We started to see people walking about and more cars making there way back into town. 

Since we were recovering from our hurricane party from Saturday night, we had decided to use up some leftovers from last week...a lovely vegetable baked ziti.  I was trying to use up all the vegetables hanging around in our fridge.  This is a great way to enjoy them up and sneak them into your husband's diet.  You can use any combination of veggies, whatever you have is perfect! On the side, I added a spinach salad and some bread and roasted garlic olive oil and dinner was served! 

Vegetable Baked Ziti

serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 pound of whole wheat pasta (I used rigatoni style)

1 zucchini grated

1 orange pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 eggs

1 18oz tub of ricotta cheese

1 large ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1  25 oz. jar of marinara sauce, or homemade tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook for 7 minutes, stirring often. 

2.  Meanwhile, start to prepare all the vegetables.  Heat up a large skillet, with the tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Grate the zucchini, dice up the peppers and onion.  Mince the garlic.  Add peppers & onions to the pan, saute 8-10 minutes until soft.  Add tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and stir.  Then add the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.  And then add the zucchini.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes and remove from heat. 

3.  In a large mixing bowl, crack 2 eggs and whisk together.  Then add the ricotta cheese, 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese, cubed and  1 cup of marinara sauce and mix together. 

4.  Once the pasta is done,  drain it and add to the cheese mixture.  Then add the sauteed vegetables, and stir to combine. 

5.  In a oven safe pan, spoon a 1/4 cup of marinara sauce and spread along the bottom.  Add the pasta and cheese mixture to the pan. 

6.  Add 1/2 cup marinara sauce on top of pasta, and spread the remaining mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs on top.  Cover with aluminum foil. 

7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove foil and finish ziti for another 20-25 minutes, or until cheese and breadcrumbs are toasty brown.   

Dinner is served!! Sorry we ate it so fast, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product.  You'll have to trust me on this,  it's beautiful!  You will love this dish, and the leftovers are fantastic! 

Wishing you all a great week!  Give this a try for dinner, your family will love it.  Be well.