Baked Ziti With Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Submitted by FloridaGrl

"This is a recipe from Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes, but I know Hunt's has a fire roasted diced tomato product out too. My DH loves this--he requests it about once a month!"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 ounces ziti pasta, cooked and drained
• 3⁄4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
• cooking spray

directions

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Spray 2 quart rectangular glass baking dish.
3. In a 10 inch non stick skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat, stirring frequently,until cooked. Add zucchini, cook 2 minutes.
4. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling.
5. Toss with pasta. Spread in dish. Cover with foil; bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Bake uncovered, about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Reviews

[Marg (CaymanDesigns)]

This was a nice change from my usual Italian dishes. My husband and I really enjoyed the addition of the zucchini...the kids, not so much. ;) The only change I made was to use a full pound of ground beef and dried oregano. Next time, I plan on using only 8 oz. of tomato sauce and not drain the tomatoes. Thanks for posting!

 

[ShanH]

This was really good! I made exactly as directed, including the Muir Glen brand tomatoes, but subbed a green pepper for the zucchini. I really loved the smokey taste of the tomatoes and it made the dish have that something extra. I can see making a ton of this in the crock and freezing it for quick dinners! Thanks!

 

[luvleysmile]

This is a great recipe. My best friend and my wonderful boyfriend love it too. Instead of regular mozzarella I used smoked mozzarella. I also added a little basil to the tomato sauce for a little more flavor. This is a keeper!

 

[whtfsh]

Very good. I only used 8 oz of tomato sauce as others suggested but followed the recipe as shown. Next time I will use Italian Sausage. That would add a lot of extra flavor. The only other differences were that I added a bunch of mushrooms and could not find smoked cheese so I added a dash, about 1/4 teas. of smoke flavor to the meat sauce. The smoke flavoring was an exciting addition. Definitely not a normal pasta casserole!

 

[sbera007]

Very good! We used shells and added green pepper, basil, and crushed red pepper. We will make this again. Thanks!