Monday, March 9, 2009

Weight Watcher Baked Beef Ziti


main meals
POINTS® Value: 5Servings: 8Preparation Time: 20 minCooking Time: 50 minLevel of Difficulty: Moderate

If you thought you couldn't indulge in your fattening favorites and still lose weight, you'll be thrilled to know that baked ziti is not a thing of the past. Our version gets rave reviews on our community boards.
Ingredients
12 oz uncooked ziti
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1/3 pound(s) raw lean ground beef
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup(s) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a spoon as it cooks, about 3 to 5 minutes; drain off any fat and set pan back over medium heat.
Add oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper; stir to coat beef. Cook until herbs become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Spoon a small amount of beef-tomato mixture into bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish (just enough to cover surface); top with half of cooked ziti. Next, layer with half of remaining beef-tomato sauce and half of mozzarella cheese. Layer with remaining ziti and then top with remaining beef-tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.


This is one of my family's FAVORITE meals! It's so easy, so good and it helps because it's WEIGHT WATCHERS!!!
Enjoy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds good, last night I made the pasta salad in our recipe book and added grilled shrimp-this is living!!I just hope to lose at least a pound this week. LOL

Erica said...

Yum! I love pasta! I will have to try this out, I would love to see you post more weight watchers recipes!