Skillet Baked Ziti

A few weeks ago I woke up and got ready to go to work like any other day.

I went to grab an english muffin out of the freezer to defrost and toast and realized EVERYTHING was melting.

Awesome.

So I quickly moved everything to a cooler and waited for the repair man.

As I was cleaning out the freezer I decided to defrost some ground beef that had been in there. I didn’t feel like making meatballs so I decided on a baked ziti.

In my cast iron skillet. Yay 🙂

Skillet Baked Ziti

Author: Emily Goodman

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

1lb penne pasta
1lb ground beef
1 small shallot, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 28oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 tablespoon of fresh minced basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 15oz container skim ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 of lemon, for juice and zest

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 F.[br][br]

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the minced shallot and cook until translucent, approx 5 minutes.
Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the ground beef. Break up with a wooden spoon while cooking until browned, approx 7 minutes.
Add the canned tomatoes, basil, crushed red pepper and cinnamon. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Use the wooden spoon to gently break up the tomatoes as the sauce simmers.
Season with salt and pepper.
While the sauce is simmering bring another pot of water to a boil. Cook penne pasta for 3 minutes under the package directions (it will finish cooking in the oven).
Combine ricotta, beaten egg, mozzarella cheese, lemon juice and zest from 1/2 of lemon. Season with salt and pepper.
In a cast iron skillet (or a regular casserole dish) cover the bottom with a small ladle of sauce. Put a few dollops of the ricotta mixture over the sauce.
Drain the pasta and add to the remaining sauce. Mix well.
Layer the pasta/sauce mixture and more dollops of ricotta in the skillet.
Top with extra shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cover loosely with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove tin foil and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.