Baked Ziti

By sassy47

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ziti or another tubular pasta
• 6 oz. ricotta
• 1 1/2 cups (divided) shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach
• 4 oz. fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 cups marinara

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic. In a skillet, heat olive oil and saute the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach, letting it wilt from the remaining heat.
In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (boil for about 5-7 minutes). Only cook the pasta until it is tender because it will continue to cook in the oven once the casserole has been assembled.
While the mushrooms and pasta cook, mix together the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, parmesan and egg. Once the spinach and mushrooms have cooled, stir them into the cheese mixture. Drain the pasta and let it cool slightly then stir it into the cheese mixture as well.
Layer the marinara sauce and pasta/cheese mixture in a casserole dish starting with marinara sauce on the bottom. Use just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish (1 to 1.5 cups) then top with half of the pasta/cheese mixture. Cover the pasta/cheese with another layer of sauce then layer the remaining pasta/cheese mix on top. Cover the second layer of pasta/cheese with one final layer of sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining ½ cup of shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (less if you are doing a half recipe). Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.