Baked Pasta in Vodka Sauce
I was doing some kitchen cleaning and had some items I needed to use before they expired. I had a 1/2 box of pasta, 1/2 container of ricotta, 1/2 bag of mozzarella, and 3/4 jar of pasta sauce. Together it was screaming bake me!
I found a recipe for a baked pasta and it looked pretty good.It tasted pretty good too. It’s a very very easy recipe that is perfect to make during the week when you’re tired and just want to order in.
Ingredients (I made half of this recipe)
- oven proof baking dish
- 1 lb penne pasta cooked and drained
- small container ricotta (whole milk or part skim will work equally as well)
- small mozzarella (about 8 ounces)shredded
- 1 egg
- 1-2 jars vodka sauce (you can find jars of vodka sauce at your supermarket)
- sliced meatballs, sausage and/or chicken
- grated parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
- Cook penne pasta til it’s almost done which is considered al dente. Drain and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the small container of ricotta and the egg. Mix until the egg is blended into the ricotta.
- Add the penne pasta to the ricotta mixture and stir until all the ricotta is mixed with the pasta. Sprinkle half of the shredded mozzarella cheese into the pasta and ricotta mix and stir again.
- Take one jar of vodka sauce and pour into the pasta and ricotta and mix well.
- If you are adding meatballs and/or sausage and/or chicken to this dish then it all has to be cooked ahead of time. Whatever meat you are adding to this dish slice into bite size pieces and then mix into the pasta and ricotta mixture.
- Pour into an oven proof baking dish and cover with additional vodka sauce and the rest of the shredded mozzarella.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven 350 degrees for about 30 to 45 min or until the mozzarella becomes nice and bubbly on top.
