Baked Ziti Casserole #2

By carvalhohm2

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked ziti pasta
• 1 lb bulk Italian pork sausage
• 1 pouch (9 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ fire roasted tomato cooking sauce
• 1 cup ricotta cheese*
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
• Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired

Details

Servings 6
Cooking time 55mins
Adapted from pillsbury.com

Preparation

Step 1

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

2 Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink; drain. Add cooking sauce, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the cooked pasta; stir well.

3 In small bowl, mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and egg.

4 Spoon pasta mixture into ungreased 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Spoon ricotta cheese mixture on top; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish with foil, sprayed side down.

5 Bake 25 to 30 minutes, removing foil last 10 minutes of bake time, until cheese melts and mixture is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with basil.

*Instead of ricotta cheese, you can substitute 3/4 cup cottage cheese and increase Parmesan cheese to 1/2 cup.

For extra-easy cleanup, line the casserole with foil.

For even more flavor, try using hot Italian pork sausage.