Baked Ziti With Easy Homemade Italian Gravy

Baked ziti with a quick and easy homemade Italian meat gravy.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 6-8
• Yields: 1 9X12 baking pan

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 1 (28 ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
• 1  teaspoon dried parsley
• 1  tablespoon dried basil
• 1  chunk pecorino romano cheese (2-inch x 1/4-inch)
• 1  lb ground beef
• 1  teaspoon dried parsley
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1  lb Italian sausage, with fennel 4-5 inches each
• 1⁄2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
•  to taste  hot pepper flakes (optional)
• 1  lb ziti pasta, rigatti
• 1  lb part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1  lb part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1⁄4 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Gravy (2 hours before dinner or as early as a few days before) in a medium bowl mix together . . . ground beef, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1 clove garlic minced, 2 TBS Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Mix with fork until evenly blended. Brown meat mixture in olive oil in a 5 qt sauce pan. When cooked almost through remove.
2. Drain pan. Add 1 lb sausage. Brown well on all sides. Remove.
3. Drain pan well. Saute 1/2 lb sliced slice fresh mushroom until slightly brown.
4. Return sausage links and ground meat mixture to sauce pan. Add tomatoes, puree, 1 tsp parsley, 1 TBS basil, 1 clove minced garlic. Simmer 1 hour. Remove sausage, slice (1/4 ") return to pot. continue to simmer until ready to use.
5. NEXT. Fill large pot with 5 quarts cold water. Bring to boil. Cook ziti according to package directions (al dente).
6. While ziti is cooking mix together ricotta, 3/4 lb mozzarella, Romano and black pepper.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
8. Drain ziti well. Place in 9X12 baking dish. Add cheese mixture blend well.
9. With slotted spoon, remove 2-3 cups meat and mushrooms from gravy. Add to ziti. Add 1 cup extra sauce. Mix well. Top with remaining mozzarella. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. remove cover and baked another 5-10 minutes, until cheese melts and gets bubbly. You do not want it to brown.
10. Also works well with medium sized shells.
11. 1 cup sliced black olives may be added to recipe or substituted for mushrooms.