Friday, June 11, 2010

Fresh Herb and Campanelle Ribbon Bake

Because food makes you feel better and cooking is the best therapy, a friend and I decided to mix the two together and have a cooking-fest. We wanted to make something italian, amazing, and fresh, and we came up with this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:
Lots of olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 bottle of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic pasta sauce
1 package of campanelle pasta (serves 8)
1 8 oz package shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmesan romano blend
1 8 oz package ricotta
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (not packed)
1 tbsp fresh oregano and parsley
Salt

Directions:
In a small bowl or mortar and pestel, crush garlic, oregano, parsley, and about 2 leaves of basil with 1/4 tsp of salt until it makes a thick paste. Set aside.
While cooking the pasta, pan fry the ground beef with 1/2 of the above mixture. Add about 1/2 tsp of salt in to the meat while cooking it.
Roll and slice the basil. You can chop it finer if you would rather have it that way. Add it in to a bowl with the ricotta cheese, about 1/4 cup of olive oil, the other 1/2 of herb mixture, and about 1 tbsp of the parmesan romano mixture. Set aside.
Once the pasta is finished, rinse it in cold water to stop cooking. Then mix the pasta, cooked beef, and half of the jar of pasta sauce in a large bowl.
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large glass baking pan, spread 1/2 of the remaining pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan with about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in half of the pasta mixture and spread evenly throughout the pan. Then spread the ricotta cheese mixture and on top, sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese bag.  Then add the other half of the pasta mixture.  Top with the rest of the mozzarella and 1/4 cup of  parmesan romano mixture.
Cook for up to 30 minutes.

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