Greek Baked Ziti

As far as pasta casseroles go, this Southern Living recipe seemed pretty nutritionally harmless.  It's made with lean ground beef and a reasonable amount of dairy.  I tweaked it a bit to make it slightly more healthy.  The ingredient list may look a bit daunting below, but most of these items you will already have in your pantry (or can very easily get them from the store).

GREEK BAKED ZITI

Recipe Notes

For the milk, I used 2%.  You should be able to use skim as a substitute without issue.  The original recipe calls for a very large amount of the milk/cheese mixture.  I halved this portion in my version and didn't miss any of the milk, butter, and cheese that we did not use.  I did not use the entire 8 oz. package of mozzarella indicated below.  I used between 4-6 oz. for my dish.

Ingredients

• 12 oz ziti pasta, cooked and drained
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 15-oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1-1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1-1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1-1/2 c. milk (I used 2%)
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 8 oz. package shredded mozzarella
• 1/3 c. fine dry breadcrumbs

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Saute onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until tender (4-5 minutes).  Add garlic and saute 30 seconds.

3.  Add beef, stirring occasionally, and cook 5 minutes or until crumbled and browned.

4.  Drain mixture and return to the skillet.

5.  Stir in tomato sauce, lemon juice, oregano, sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tsp. salt.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

6.  Cook and stir occasionally for 2 minutes and remove from heat.

7.  Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes.  Gradually whisk in milk.

8.  Increase heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, for 5-7 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.

9.  Stir in Parmesan cheese, pepper, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.

10.  Add cooked ziti pasta to cheese sauce mixture, stirring to coat.

11.  Transfer pasta mixture to a lightly-greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Top with beef mixture.

12.  Sprinkle mozarella cheese and breadcrumbs on top of beef mixture.

13.  Bake a 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.  (Cheese will be melted.)

14.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Magazine note: this dish may be fixed ahead and frozen (unbaked) for a future meal.  If frozen, let stand 30 minutes before baking, and add 15-20 minutes to the baking time in the oven.