Make My Day Camp: Crock Pot Ziti (meat optional)

Friday, March 17, 2023

Crock Pot Ziti (meat optional)

I made this for dinner the other night, mostly because I wanted to see what cooking dried pasta in the crockpot would be like. I am very on the fence about the results - yes thee pasta cooked in the sauce but it went from almost done to over-done in a few minutes! So it wasn't 'al dente' by any means so that made the texture off for me, but everyone else seemed to like it and Dave even requested leftovers for the next day which he rarely does. If I make it again this way I will keep a much closer eye on it. I think my mistake was turning it to the warm setting instead of serving it right away.

This might seem a little complicated because of how long I'm making this post, but stick with me - it's actually really easy I'm just giving you some options:

1) You could skip doctoring the jarred marinara sauce and just use it as is along with the cheese mixture and uncooked pasta in the crock pot, add a little water tho to make sure all of the noodles are covered.

2) I browned the sausage links in a pan until brown on all sides, remove from the pan and then continue with making the sauce. Put the sausage and frozen meatballs in the sauce once you have it made and it's simmering on the stove until the sausage is cooked thru. I served the meat in some sauce on the side instead of adding to the crock pot.

3) If you add meat to the sauce - when you're ready to put the ingredients into the crock pot, scoop sauce from around the meat and transfer it to the crock pot. I did it this way to flavor the sauce but you can skip this step! Or put one jar of sauce in a pan with the meat, and use one jar of sauce for the crock pot pasta.

This makes a lot of sauce, enough for the crock pot pasta with plenty leftover to serve on the side with or without the meat.

1 lb. Italian sausage links, cut in half, optional
1 small bag frozen meatballs, optional

1 T. oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/2 t. garlic
2 jars marinara sauce
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 t. Italian seasoning
2 (15 oz) cans water
2 T. sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 (15 oz.) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes, optional
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups uncooked ziti
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving if desired

Make sauce: if you are using the sausage - in a large pot brown the links on all sides and remove from the pan. Cook the onion, mushrooms, and garlic in a little oil in the same pan for a couple minutes until softened. Add marinara sauce, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, 2 cans of water, and sugar; stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let in simmer for as long as you want to blend the flavors. You can use it immediately if you want, or let it hang out on the stovetop for an hour or two. If adding the meat, put the links and meatballs into the sauce and cook until the sausage is no longer pink and the meatballs are heated thru.

Using an electric mixer, combine ricotta cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream. Add seasonings.

Put a layer of sauce into the bottom of a 5-quart crock pot. Top with about 1/3 of the uncooked pasta. Add 1/2 of the ricotta mixture and spread over the sauce. Sprinkle with some parmesan. Add another layer of sauce, 1/3 of the uncooked ziti, and the remaining ricotta mixture spread evenly. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Add remaining uncooked pasta, top with remaining sauce. Make sure the noodles are completely covered by the sauce so they'll cook correctly.

Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, or LOW for 3 1/2 - 4 hours, or until pasta is tender.