Spaghetti Sauce & Baked Ziti

This recipe came from Emily's friend that she worked with to make all the food for Stake Girls Camp. I made it a few weeks ago and changed a couple of things. I wanted to type up what I did, so I figured I might as well type it right into the blog:

Spaghetti Sauce (this makes a lot! - about 8 quarts - we ate some and froze the rest in 4 cup increments)

1 lb italian sausage

2 lbs ground beef

1 large white onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

3 big cans crushed tomatoes

12 oz tomato paste

3 Tbsp brown sugar (you may use less - we like our sauce a little sweet)

1 Tbsp basil

1 Tbsp oregano

1 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp marjoram

1 1/2 tsp salt (be careful with this and add to taste - some canned tomatoes have more salt than others)

2 bay leafs

couple shakes red pepper flakes

Cook sausage and rinse and drain. - set aside. cook ground beef. Drain - set aside (cook these separately because the sausage requires a higher cooking temp and could dry out the beef. Saute onion in olive oil, then add garlic and saute one more minute. (If you want you can brown the beef with the onion--however this will make your sauce retain extra fat.) Add meat and rest of ingredients. Simmer for 1 hour. Be really careful not to let the temperature get too high or the bottom will burn and your whole pot of sauce will taste burnt and weird (like my mom used to make!) Serve over pasta w/ parmesan cheese.

Here is something I made with some of the sauce that w

as frozen a few weeks later. It normally calls for sauce w/ no meat, but it tasted really good w/ this meat sauce:

Baked Ziti (Emily's old recipe)

1 lb. Ziti (or penne)

¼ t. pepper

12 oz. ricotta cheese

2 T. parsley

2 eggs beaten ( I may try this with just one egg next time)

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

¾ c. parmesan cheese

6-8 c. spaghetti sauce (pre-made in a jar or see recipe above)

¼ t. salt

Cook ziti according to directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Combine ricotta cheese with eggs, ½ c. parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley. Blend well. Toss ziti with 2-3 c. spaghetti sauce. Place ½ the pasta in a baking dish. Top with ricotta mixture and ½ of the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining ziti, sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. Bake @ 350° for about 40 minutes – until heated through.