Sasha's Kitchen: Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs

I love baked ziti. Not the healthiest thing out there, but all that sauce, pasta and cheese - what's not to love? It takes a bit of time to put everything together, but its a great comfort meal that usually produces galores of leftovers.  I had recently received some great organic pastas to try from ShopRite for free as a ShopRite Potluck blogger, so I decided to use the one pound bag of delicious penne to make this baked ziti. The result was delicious and the pasta was just perfect for this recipe.  The turkey meatballs are a wonderful addition that lend flavor to this dish. 

Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs (adapted from this recipe from Epicurious)

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted, cooled, and chopped
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leafed)
• 1 large egg, beaten lightly
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb ziti or penne
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about six oz)

1 cup grated romano cheese
about six cups of tomato sauce (store bought, or make your own, like I did)
15 oz ricotta cheese



In a bowl, combine the pecorino/romano and mozzarella and set aside.  In a pot of salted water, make the pasta, al dente.  To make the meatballs, mix the ground turkey with the garlic, bread crumbs, onion, pine nuts, parsley and egg until combined with your hands and form 1 inch meatballs.  Instead of cooking them in oil, I baked them for about 40 minutes at 350 until cooked through.

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 3-4 quart gratin or lasagna dish.  Then, spoon about 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and half of meatballs into prepared dish and spoon half of pasta on top. Spread half remaining sauce and half cheese mixture over pasta. Top with remaining meatballs and drop dollops of ricotta over meatballs. Spread remaining pasta over ricotta and top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese mixture. Bake the ziti for about 30 minutes until golden and serve hot. 

Sasha's Kitchen: Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs

Sasha's Kitchen: Baked Ziti With Lamb Sausage (and Details on Tomorrow's Upcoming Giveaway)

Baked ziti is one of my favorite pasta dishes, so it is time to share this dish with my readers.  I actually prepared the baked ziti on Thursday evening, but I took a day off of writing on Friday.  This baked ziti has a twist in that I like to incorporate some kind of sausage.  I have prepared this dish with either lamb sausage  or chicken sausage.  Both are delicious combinations with the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, although this recipe was prepared exclusively with the lamb sausage.    In addition, I made my baked ziti with a homemade pasta sauce.  I discovered that taking photos of baked ziti is quite challenging because it is a very messy looking dish, inherently.  Thus, I attempted to "dress it up" for the picture with some artfully positioned basil leaves.  Finally, baked ziti is notoriously unhealthy, but I have attempted to reduce this by using skim milk ricotta cheese.  You could also use lowfat mozzarella, but this takes a bit of the pizazz and flavor out of the dish (and really, completely lowfat wouldn't be as much fun, right?)  This dish is a classic in my home - messy to prepare but not too difficult, and always satisfying.

Sasha's Baked Ziti With Lamb Sausage


1 box ziti noodles (1 lb)
1 lb fresh lamb sausage (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried basil
 2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup red cooking wine
16 oz fresh mozzarella cheese (sliced or torn into small pieces)
15 oz skim milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese.

Cook the pasta and set aside.  Saute the lamb sausages and set aside. In a pot, combine the tomatoes, seasonings, garlic and red wine and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer for about twenty minutes until the sauce comes to the proper consistency.  In a separate bowl, combine the mozzarella and ricotta cheeses.

Next, spoon about half a cup of sauce into your lasagna pan.  I have an Emile Henry blue lasagna dish that I absolutely love.   I must confess that I have a fascination, almost an obsession with pretty solid color cookware - both Le Creuset and Emile Henry.  Next, layer the pasta, then the cheese mixture, then the sausage, then repeat with another layer of sauce, pasta and cheese.  Top with some remaining sauce and sprinkle with the half cup of  parmesan cheese.  Bake covered with a piece of tin foil for thirty minutes at 350 F.  Then take off the tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

I have a giveaway that I am going to introduce tomorrow of some exciting cupcake necklaces.  The giveaway will be open to my followers on google blogger and to my facebook fans, so please sign up as a follower (check the sidebar) and a facebook fan (top of the sidebar) to win a lovely glass cupcake necklace from New York designer Moon & Star Designs.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post for details on how to win!

Sasha's Kitchen: Baked Ziti With Lamb Sausage (and Details on Tomorrow's Upcoming Giveaway)