After a few glorious days of sunshine and sleeveless-shirt weather, it snowed again yesterday. This baked ziti is precisely what I want to eat when it’s cold outside. Hearty, saucy, cheesy pasta with redeeming whole grains and protein-rich lentils to keep me fueled for hours. This dish is in sharp contrast to the pasta dinners I loved as a kid, which consisted only of refined carbohydrates and loads of sugar-laden marinara sauce. No matter how saucy pasta I could slurp down, I was always hungry 30 minutes later. No wonder!
I quickly lose my patience with recipes that require stovetop preparation followed by a long bake, but I kept this one as simple as possible. It’s worth the [minimal] effort and the wait, I promise. One way that I simplified the recipe—without sacrificing health factors or quality—was by using store-bought marinara sauce. You’ve probably noticed that not all pre-made marinara sauces are created equally.
My new go-to is my partner Newman’s Own organic marinara, which is thick and rich with slow-cooked tomato flavor. It’s hard to replicate that level of flavor at home without actually simmering tomatoes on the stovetop for hours. It’s organic, which is especially important for tomato products, since conventionally grown tomatoes tend to be high in pesticide residue. Their sauce is also sugar free, unlike so many of the other sauces that are dessert disguised as marinara. My childhood favorite lists sugar third on the ingredients list, right after the tomatoes. Last, but certainly not least—I love this brand because they donate 100 percent of profits to charity. Not 5 percent or 10 percent—all of it. Since 1982, the Newman’s Own Foundation has donated over $475 million to thousands of charities. I’m tremendously inspired by their business model and would love to see more companies do the same. Maybe I’ll start one of my own someday.
**Cottage cheese vs. ricotta: I genuinely prefer cottage cheese to ricotta here, even though I can’t stand cottage cheese on its own. Ricotta tends to get gummy when heated, which bothers me, whereas cottage cheese turns magically more creamy and delicious. Use whichever one you prefer in lasagna recipes. Make it gluten free: Substitute sturdy gluten-free pasta (such as a corn and quinoa blend). Change it up: You can add cooked bite-sized veggies or sautéed greens to the lentil and pasta mixture, if you’d like! Advance preparation: I believe you could make the lentils and pasta ahead of time, refrigerate, and assemble just before baking. Matter of fact, you could probably assemble the whole thing and refrigerate until baking. It’s probably a good candidate for freezing before baking, too. Please let me know if you try. This post was created in partnership with Newman’s Own and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
