Crockpot Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
- 2 (25 ounce) jars of pasta sauce
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 pound UNCOOKED penne pasta (I used gluten free made with Quinoa from Aldi)
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
- 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 shredded mozzarella (I use low fat)
Directions:
- Add both ground beef and turkey burger to large pan and cook on stove on medium high for 5 min (or until slightly pink- don’t worry, it will cook the rest of the way in the crock pot).
- Combine ricotta, eggs, and spinach in a bowl and stir well
- In a large bowl, combine both pasta sauces and tomato sauce together.
- Grate Parmesan cheese (I used around 2 cups) and set aside.
- Grease the inside of a 6 qt slow cooker (I used Olive oil spray but you can use whatever you have)
- Add 2⅓ cups of pasta sauce to the bottom of the slow cooker
- Add ⅓ of the uncooked penne.
- Dot on half of the ricotta mixture and spread out evenly.
- Add half of the Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
- Add another 2⅓ cups of sauce mixture
- Add an additional ⅓ of the uncooked penne.
- Dot on the remaining ricotta and spread out.
- Sprinkle on the remaining parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
- Add the last ⅓ of the uncooked penne.
- Top with the remaining 2⅓ cups of sauce mixture
- Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until pasta is al dente (I found that toking on high for 2-3 hours helps prevent the noodles from getting too soggy)
- During the last few minutes, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese to the top and allow to melt
- Serve alone or topped with red pepper flakes and a side salad!
- Enjoy!
