Time-Crunch Ziti

When I went up to the Unilever kitchens last week, to create a dinner in 45 minutes using Ragu, I was all set to make Baked Ziti. Until I realized that my ziti needs about 60 minutes to cook. Or more.

One thing that chef Sarah Page told us is that many recipes can be adapted so that you don’t need to pre-cook the noodles. While I didn’t make ziti that night, I decided to try it at home this week. A little searching through old recipes and I created my own no-bake, no-pre-cook noodles ziti. This one takes about 35 minutes to cook.

What you’ll need:

• 1 lb ground turkey, beef, chicken, buffalo… whatever you prefer
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 jar Ragu Traditional sauce (with 2 servings of veggies in each half a cup)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 box ziti (uncooked)
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese (or more. I like using more)
• 1/4 cup shredded Pamresan cheese

Get Cookin’

• In a Dutch-oven, brown ground meet with carrots and drain
• Stir Ragu sauce, water, uncooked ziti, dried basil, onion powder into the mixture in the Dutch-oven
• Boil mixture, then reduce heat
• Cover and cook about 25 minutes, until tender.
• Stir in mozzerella cheese
• Serve wtih Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top

I used 97% fat-free ground turkey, so there was no need for draining. And it was gooood. Received 2-thumbs up from Big he commented “Mom? will there be leftovers? Because I want you to pack this in my lunch all week.”

By-the-way, if you don’t have a Dutch-oven, I highly recommend adding it to your holiday wish list this year. A few years ago I took the Huz to a few cooking stores to show him the one I wanted. And we talked to several sales people first, because it does seem like a big expense for “just another pot.” But its an item that you’ll have forever and use weekly, if not more. I have a Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron French Oven, but there are lots of other options, some costing a lot less. (Like the Lodge Logic, which is said to be a great starter Dutch oven and is on sale at Amazon right now for only $29.99). Go for a 5-qt size to cook for your family. If you’re trying to decide between oval and round, I recommend oval so that you can fit a chicken or turkey better.

© 2010, Julie Meyers Pron. All rights reserved.

About Julie Meyers Pron

Julie Meyers Pron has written 894 post in this blog.

mom of 3 and wife, Julie is a former elementary school teacher and a Public Relations manager. She is the owner/editor of Just Precious, founding partner of Just Centsible, and a team member of Splash Creative Media. Julie is a PTOer, volunteer, elementary educator and that's just the beginning of the list!

• View all posts by Julie Meyers Pron →
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook