baked turkey ziti

We had a chilly weekend, and even in Texas, that means its time for some hearty fall pasta dishes! Obviously, this is the first thing that came to mind -- totally delicious, and super easy to make (although it's a multiple-pot dish, so be prepared for a little cleanup).

It'll probably be ninety degrees again in a few days, so I have to eat stuff like this while I can! Because, seriously, combine pasta, ground turkey, tomato sauce and a ton of cheese? How could that NOT be delicious?

Baked Turkey Ziti

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup olive oil

1.5 pounds ground turkey

1 shallot, chopped

1 small eggplant, chopped (optional)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 (1-pound) box rigatoni noodles

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt

Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, cook the turkey, olive oil, eggplant and shallot until browned. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and simmer until blended.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water according to package instructions. Drain and mix with the tomato sauce.

Pour half the pasta and sauce into the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish. Add a layer of mozzarella, and then top with the remaining pasta and another layer of mozzarella. Top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover the dish with foil and cook for 25 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes of cooking to brown cheese.