Paige and Sarah's Famous Baked Ziti

Nick has a GMS '08 Cookbook from the summer that he spent in Vermont at the Navigator's Summer Training program, "Green Mountain Summer".  Two of our beautiful friends from Penn State, Paige and Sarah, were in charge of cooking at GMS and put together a cookbook packet at the end of the summer.  We love this ziti recipe.  And it's so easy to adapt, if you want to add meat or veggies... just do it!  Our personal favorite is adding sweet italian sausage.  Here is Paige and Sarah's recipe, with our addition of sausage.

Paige and Sarah's Famous Baked Ziti
about 8 servings
• 1 box ziti
• 2 jars spaghetti sauce
• 2 eggs
• 15 oz. jar ricotta cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 cups parmesan cheese
• 3 Sweet Italian Sausages (or spicy, if you prefer)

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Brown sausage in a frying pan.  Remove from pan and slice in half and then into  bite sized pieces.  Cook pasta according to box.  In a large bowl combine eggs, ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1 cup parmesan cheese.  Mix until combined.  Drain pasta and add to the cheese mixture and stir well.  Stir in sausage.  Add spaghetti sauce and stir, but not too much.  Add oregano, salt/pepper, and garlic powder to taste.  Pour the mixture into a 9x13 pan.  Top with remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1 cup parmesan.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake 40 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking 5-10 minutes longer, until the cheese is slightly browned.  Remove from oven and serve!

Source: GMS '08 Cookbook by Paige and Sarah