Quick & Easy Low Fat Baked Ziti - 8 PointsPlus

One night a few weeks ago, I asked my boyfriend what he wanted me to cook for him, and he said baked ziti.  I was having a really hard time finding a recipe that I deemed low enough in PointsPlus value for me to bother with - so I created my own!  I'm proud to say this is my first true original recipe, and I guess that's why it's taken me so long to put it up here.  But trust me - it's worth the wait... just look at it!! MMMM =)

Ingredients:

- 16 oz (1 lb) of cooked ziti noodles (or whatever pasta you like)

- 15 oz canned tomato sauce (I like Hunt's)

- 8 oz fat free ricotta cheese (such as Polly-O)

- 2 cups part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Sargento)
- 1 small/medium onion, minced
- Fresh basil (or the herbs of your choosing), roughly chopped



Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Cook pasta according to package to al dente.

3) While the pasta is cooking, mix together the tomato sauce, the ricotta, the basil, and the onion in a large bowl.

3) When the pasta is ready, strain the noodles, return to pot, and stir in sauce mixture - away from the heat.  Mix well.

4) Transfer coated noodles to a lasagna dish or baking pan.

5) Top with the part-skim mozzarella.

6) Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is completely melted and slightly browned.

7) Cut into 8 equal pieces and serve.

Using the ingredients I used, the final product (1 serving) came out to be 20 g protein, 47 g carbs, 5.5 g fat, and 3 g fiber - or 8 PointsPlus.  My boyfriend complained about the onion, but after he got over that, he loved it - and so did my entire family.  I actually went back for seconds - which is not usually the case for me.  When melted mozzarella cheese is involved, there's not much room for error.

Until next time... Happy Eating!
- Steph =)