Ziti Casserole | With Turkey & Peppers
An easy and flavor loaded Ziti recipe. Great for family dinners or holiday menu.
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Servings: 8 People
Calories: 655kcal
Equipment
- Large saute pan or dutch oven pan for cooking vegetables and meat sauce
- 5 quart pot for cooking the pasta
- 9x13 baking pan/dish and a 1/2 sheetpan
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTA:
- 16 ounces ziti pasta (1 box)
- large pot of salted water for cooking the pasta
FATS:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more for greasing the baking pan and for drizzling on top of the basil/cheese)
VEGETABLES:
- 4 small poblanos peppers seeds removed and diced
- 1 medium red pepper seeds removed and diced
- 1 medium yellow pepper seeds removed and diced
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic crushed
HERBS:
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped
- OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves - chopped.
MEAT:
- 2 pounds ground turkey meat (I use organic)
SPICES:
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher (adjust for your diet)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
SAUCES:
- 64 ounces Marinara sauce (2 - 32 ounces bottle)
CHEESES:
- 2 cups freshly shredded provolone cheese
- 1 cup freshly shredded pepper jack cheese
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (I use 4 1/2 quarts of water with 1 tablespoon salt.)
Cook the vegetables and turkey.
- In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
- Add all the peppers, onion, garlic and sage. Season with a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix.Note: I mix together the salt and black pepper for the full recipe. Use a pinch of this mixture.
- Saute the veggies for 5 to 6 minutes until it starts to soften.
- Add the cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Mix to combine. Cook 30 to 60 seonds.
- Add the turkey ground meat. Use the back of the spoon to break up the meat and mix it in with the veggies. Turn up the heat to medium-high/high. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until the meat is no longer pink.
- Season with the remaining salt and pepper mixture. Mix to combine.
- Pour in the marinara sauce. Stir to combine with the meat and veggie mixture.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low/low. Simmer 15 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta in the pot of boiling salted water.
- Cook the pasta 3 to 4 minutes fewer than the al dente package direction. Drain the pasta.
Turn off the stove for the meat sauce. And assemble the ziti casserole.
- Lightly oil a 9x13 baking pan/dish. Place on top of a 1/2 sheet pan.
- Spread about 2 ladles or 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the sauce on the bottom of the pan/dish.
- Spread 1/2 of the ziti pasta over the sauce.
- Pour in and spread 1/2 of the remaining sauce over the pasta.
- Sprinkle in 1/2 of the provolone cheese, 1/2 of the pepper jack cheese and 1/2 of the parmesan cheese.
- Spread the remaining pasta on top of the cheeses.
- Pour and spread the remaining sauce over the pasta, making sure to completely cover the pasta.
- Sprinkle in the remaining provolone, pepper jack and parmesan cheeses.
- OPTIONAL: sprinkle freshly chopped basil leaves. Drizzle olive oil over the leaves/cheese.
- Bake the ziti 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly and the cheeses fully melts.
- Remove the baked ziti from the oven. Allow it to rest before cutting.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Pasta substitution: rigatoni or penne.
I used marinara sauce as it is my favorite. You can use your favorite tomato sauce.
The provolone and pepper jack cheeses works perfectly in this recipe. You can however substitute a white mild cheddar cheese.
Nutrition
Calories: 655kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 1914mg | Potassium: 1439mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 2326IU | Vitamin C: 97mg | Calcium: 529mg | Iron: 5mg