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Million Dollar Baked Ziti

This is such a rich-tasting dish. If you’ve had baked ziti before, you’ll be familiar with the flavor, but this one has plenty of dairy ingredients for a wonderfully rich result.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Main

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz. Cream cheese
  • 1 lb. Ziti noodles
  • 16 oz. Cottage cheese
  • 1 lb. Ground Italian sausage
  • ½ C. Sour cream
  • 4 tsp. Minced garlic
  • 2 Large eggs
  • 2 tsp. Oregano
  • 1 ½ C. Parmesan cheese grated
  • 1 tsp. Basil
  • 2 C. Mozzarella cheese cubed
  • 28 oz. Tomato sauce
  • Fresh chopped basil for garnish
  • 14.5 oz. Can of diced tomatoes
  • ½ C. Fresh basil chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp. Sugar

Method
 

  1. Boil the ziti in a pot of water on the stove until al dente and drain well.
  2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
  3. Saute the Italian sausage in a skillet over medium high heat until completely browned. Drain the excess fat.
  4. Stir in the garlic, oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 1 minute.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium, and add in the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  6. Stir in the sugar and chopped basil, and remove the skillet from the heat.
  7. In a large bowl, blend together the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
  8. Add the noodles and 1 cup of the meat sauce to the cottage cheese mixture and stir to combine well.
  9. Spread the mixture into a well greased 9x13 baking dish.
  10. Layer the remaining sauce on top, and then sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan and mozzarella.
  11. Cover with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover, and cook for another 25 minutes.
  12. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving garnished with fresh chopped basil.