BAKED ZITI

Ingredients
  • 1 lb ziti pasta
  • 1 lb mild Italian sausage
  • ½ yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 24 oz marinara sauce
  • 16 oz Shamrock Farms cottage cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup Shamrock Farms sour cream (optional)
  • Fresh basil, chiffonade or chopped for garnish
Cooking instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and generously season water with salt. Add pasta to water and boil until al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta.
  3. While pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until mostly browned, about 4 minutes, being sure to break up sausage as it cooks.
  4. Add onion and garlic to the skillet. Continue to cook, stirring often, until sausage is no longer pink and onions have softened. Pour marinara sauce into skillet, stir everything together, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. To a medium mixing bowl, add Shamrock Farms cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, Italian seasoning, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together until the eggs and spices are evenly combined. If you like, add in Shamrock Farms sour cream for an extra creamy filling!
  6. Assembly: Spread ⅓ of the meat sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 deep-sided baking dish. Add ½ of pasta over the sauce and spread out around the dish. Add all of the cottage cheese mixture over pasta and spread to cover. Top cheese with ⅓ of pasta sauce. Add remaining pasta on top, and then spread the rest of the sauce over pasta.
  7. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and ½ cup Parmesan over the pasta bake.
  8. Cover loosely with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until your pasta bake is bubbling and the cheese is all melted.
  9. Remove from the oven and sprinkle fresh basil over the top. Serve warm.