Baked Ziti with Mascarpone

Source: Lauren's Kitchen

I love pasta with cheese. This recipe doesn't fail. Tons of leftovers, so I have plenty of time to enjoy it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ziti pasta (used mostaccioli)
  
• 1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
  
• 1/2 lb ground beef (used 1 lb.)
  
• 1 small onion, diced (used half large onion)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (used garlic powder since I was out of garlic cloves)
  
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-2 cups Mozzarella cheese (used full 2 cups)
  
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (used more, not sure on amount)
  

Preparation

• Cook pasta to al dente. Drain & set aside.
• Meanwhile, brown meat with onion & garlic. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  
• Add marinara sauce to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Thin the sauce just a tad with about 1/8 cup water or chicken stock. (used chicken broth)
  
• Season the sauce with garlic & herbs, to taste. (skipped, didn't need anything)
  
• In a large bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, sour cream, and cooked pasta.
• Layer the pasta, sauce and cheese in a large greased casserole dish as follows:

1/2 pasta
1/2 sauce
1/2 cheese
remaining pasta
remaining sauce
remaining cheese

• Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.
  
• Remove from oven and top with Parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
  
• Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.
  

Next Time- The only thing that comes to mind is adding pepper to the pasta mixture before doing the layers. I tried this first, then ended up adding pepper while eating. It turned out great. I was worried that the mascarpone would make it too sweet, but it didn't. Just made it nice and creamy.