Baked ziti:


2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 links italian sausage
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup red wine
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 pound ziti pasta
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
3 oz grated parmesan
3 eggs, beaten

Brown sausages in heavy sauce pan, then remove and chop into bite sized pieces. Heat the olive oil, add garlic, and cook for a couple minutes until fragrant. Add onions, carrot, celery and cook until soft, then add wine and reduce by a half. Add tomatoes, oregano, basil, bay leaves, and return chopped sausages. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for an hour, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. While waiting for sauce to thicken, boil ziti and drain. Toss with some olive oil so ziti does not stick together while waiting for the sauce, and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When sauce has thickened, remove bay leaves, remove from heat, and mix in ziti, stirring well. Move pasta and sauce to a baking pan, and cover with mozzarella, then pour beaten eggs on top. Sprinkle parmesan on top, and bake in oven for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, and serve.


7/10: Not bad for a first try. I over-baked the ziti by about 5 minutes, baking for about 25 minutes, so next time I will do better. The wine I used for the sauce was a merlot, and that went well with the meal as well.