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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) and Zola To GO! recipe. This time of year I make many casseroles. First reason is it makes for great cold weather comfort food. Second reason is so many people need a dish to take to a party or potluck. These fit the bill.

Manicotti is a dish full of carbs because the pasta consists of large manicotti tubes that you stuff with ricotta cheese and optional meat mixtures. For this dish I did away with the manicotti noodles altogether and just concentrated on the inside elements with just a bit of optional pasta up top.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cooked noodles (optional) You get to choose which kind. I’d recommend penne, rigatoni or even wide noodles like papardelle.  I just cut the papardelle into chunks so they are not long. To cook the pasta just follow the directions on the box of noodles you choose.
• 2 Tbl of olive oil
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 pound of Italian sausage. If you cannot find loose sausage just cut the casings and remove the loose meat from inside the sausage.
• 1 cup of diced onion
• 8 oz of sliced mushrooms
• 24 oz jar of premade pasta sauce. Look for one with no sugar. You may do quite a bit of label reading before you find one but they DO exist. Even some big brands make options. You choose the flavor. I used vodka sauce but there are several options to choose from.
• 1 pound of shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• ½ tsp of Italian seasoning

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

This dish is very easy to prepare. It’s more about assembly than anything.

In a pot add your water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. The pasta is actually optional. This tastes great just served in a bowl like a thick stew. But if you are craving noodles you can use a few so you feel more Italian. You can begin the rest of the meal while the pasta cooks.

In a large sauté pan, add the olive oil and begin to heat it. Add the ground beef and the sausage. Continually break it up into small pieces while it cooks. When it’s half-way done, add the onion so that can partially cook too. When cooked through, pour the meat mixture into the bottom of the 9″ x 13″ pan. Don’t wash the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook those until the edges begin to brown. Pour those over the meat mixture and stir it up a bit.

Pour half of the pasta sauce over the meat mixture and stir.

Put the ricotta in a small bowl and add the Italian seasoning. Stir. Now take a spoon and take globs of the ricotta and distribute them across the meat mixture.

Sprinkle over half of the cheese. Then drain your pasta and spread the pasta over the meat and cheese mixtures. If you are not using pasta, just skip this step.

Finally, spread the remaining sauce and the last of the cheese over the top. Try to make sure the pasta is all covered. Whatever sticks up with get crunchy but I like a few noodles with a crunchy edge so it’s up to you. Put the casserole in the oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until the top of the cheese begins to brown just a tad.

Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving. This is sort of a “spoon-it-out-of-the-casserole” dish rather than cut it. It’s not like lasagna with all the noodle layers. It will hold together pretty well though.

Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator. Once the casserole has cooled in the refrigerator it will hold together VERY well and can be cut into wedges for re-heating. This helps it travel well if you want to take portions to work or you want to freeze them for later retrieval.

Enjoy!

Cheers,