Baked Mostaccioli Recipe
Also known as baked ziti or baked penne, baked Mostaccioli tastes a bit like lasagna but without so much work. You can use ground turkey, and/or turkey breakfast sausage and add veggies for an even healthier option.
Since you are going to bake this dish in the sauce you want to make sure you cook the pasta to al dente. This means that you want the pasta to be firm when you bite it – not hard, just firm.
The pasta will continue to cook and absorb the sauce when it’s in the baking dish. If you’ve overcooked the pasta in the boiling water, it will come out mushy after baking.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 Green Bell Pepper
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 lb. Ground Pork Breakfast Sausage
- 1/2 tbsp. Cajun Seasoning
- 2 Jars Sal’s Red Gravy
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 16 oz. Package of Mostaccioli (Penne Pasta)
- 1 1/2 lb. Block of Mozzarella
- 1 1/2 lb. Block of Provolone
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Start out by heating a large pan over Med/Med Low heat. Chop your Onion, Bell Pepper, and Garlic. Add the Olive Oil to your hot pan and coat evenly. Then drop in your Ground Beef and Ground Pork Sausage.
- At this time get a pot of water boiling for your pasta. When the ground beef and pork reach a pink and brown color, drop in your chopped vegetables. Sauté for roughly 25 minutes or until vegetables are very soft. During this time, your pot of water should come to a boil. Add the Teaspoon of Salt and your 16oz Package of Mostaccioli (Penne Pasta). Boil for roughly 8 minutes, or to an al dente consistency. Pour the pasta into a strainer that is over a bowl so that you can reserve the pasta water. If the pasta starts to stick, a large spoonful of the pasta water and can help break up the pasta without making it runny.
- At this time preheat your oven to 350°. After the 25 minutes of sautéing, drain the meat mixture into a strainer, then add it back to your pan. Add 1 jar of the Red Gravy and blend. Then add a little more than half of the next jar. Cover this, and let sit on a low simmer. At this you are going to want to shred your cheese. After you have shredded the cheese, turn your burner off, and move everything to a prepping area. Prepare a deep 9 x 13 baking dish or larger by layering the bottom with leftover red gravy.
- Next, add a layer of pasta, the Shredded Provolone, and then a layer of the meat sauce. Use a large spoon to push everything down so that you can give yourself as much room in the baking dish as you can. Add another layer of pasta, meat sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, and top it off with mozzarella. Clean up the edges, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on the calibration of your oven. Let sit for five minutes to cool, and then serve.
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