Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3 to 4 whole cloves
- 2 pounds ground beef (80/20)
- Salt
- 1/2 cup peeled and chopped fresh tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon margarine, melted
- 1 pound ziti, cooked
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for topping
- Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, garlic, black pepper, to taste, the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and cloves and saute for a few minutes. Add the ground beef, stirring continuously, until all the meat is cooked and browned. Stir in salt, to taste, fresh tomato and tomato puree. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, then remove the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and the whole cloves.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Brush a large casserole dish generously with melted margarine. Add the cooked ziti, beaten egg, cheese and the meat mixture. Mix until well combined. Top with Bechamel Sauce and sprinkle with more grated Parmigiano. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and serve.
Bechamel Sauce:
- 1 quart milk
- 1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly ground nutmeg
Heat the milk in medium saucepan over low heat. In separate medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine, then add the flour and mix well. Stir in the heated milk, beaten eggs, cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg, to taste. Whisk until thickened. Keep warm until ready to use.
Notes
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
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By nolmt777
on February 09, 2012
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I love this dish the only thing i would change is double the amount of fresh garlic. Other then that awesome with capital A!!!
By wscott52_4164799
Westfield, NY
on October 16, 2011
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I made this the other night to take to some friends house for dinner. Everyone loved it. I used a 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatos insteat of fresh and butter instead of margarine. One change I would make in the future is cut the olive oil down to 3 or 4 Tbs. There was a lot of oil left in the skillet after simmering the meat sauce that I strained out before assembling it with the ziti. I also mixed the parmesan and beaten egg with the ziti and put half of it down in a layer then put the meat sauce as a second layer and the rest of the ziti as the third layer and topped all with the bechamel sauce and more grated parmigiano reggiano to be more traditional. We split the leftovers and it was even better the second day. I used a 9x13x2 foil pan and it was about the right size. Will make again.
By Sandpski
Meridian, MS
on June 22, 2011
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WARNING!!! When they call for a "large" casserole dish, they don't mean a standard 6.5 x 13.5. dish. You MUST have a 10.5 x 14.75 at least, otherwise it won't all fit. I agree that the spices for the meat mixture need to be modified somewhat and placed in a mesh bag to make them easier to remove. Using expensive cinnamon sticks seems a waste in relation to the amount of flavor gained. Dosen't seem to be enough liguid in the meat mixture to leach the full flavor of the cinnamon sticks. Next time I'll use ground cinnamon. The Bechamel Sauce seemed too thick to me. I'll increase the amount of milk and decrease the amount of flour next time. Otherwise, this came out as a pretty good variation. Having lived in Greece for a few years, I've been fortunate to have the "homemade" version at friends homes.
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