Meatball and Ziti Bake

Made this for dinner tonight. We thought it was delicious, tasty and lots of flavor. I used regular pasta otherwise followed the recipe. It was easy and great for a week night meal . This will be a regular in the rotation.

This was so easy and tasty, it will be a regular at our house. The meatballs were tender and flavorful. A little red wine in place of some of the pasta water is a nice addition.

Made this tonight. Thought it was going to be time consuming, but it wasn't. Wasn't sure if it was going to be enough to feed a family of 4. It was just enough, definitely need a side. We really liked this & will make it again for sure.

Have made this twice now, but use regular ziti vs whole wheat.  It makes it up to a 5 star recipe with red wine replacing the water and 1 spoonful of sugar to the sauce.  Easy enough to have in a regular rotation.

The final dish was okay, but it seemed to take a lot longer to pull it all together. The overall flavor was alright but could have benefitted from some oregano. We did like the meatballs though. As for the pasta and sauce... The amount of pasta (6 oz.) was not quite enough for my family of 4, so I made some more plain pasta for my daughter who wanted it without sauce; and there seemed to be  almost too much sauce. So if I make this again, I would make some changes to fit my family's tastes.

Fairly simple and yummy. The meatballs could have  been more flavorful - I might try this again with a different meatball recipe.

Made half the recipe for me & spouse, and it did come together in 1/2 hour but only because I'd made the meatballs in the morning. Added Lawry's seasoned pepper, dried oregano, and onion powder to meatballs for more flavor and used half parmesan in the cheese topping for the same reason. Very tasty and satisfying, but might have been bland without those flavor boosts. Served with the pine nut, spinach, & palm salad. Portion size is large, and we did not feel a need for bread.

The whole thing was great, but the meatballs were awesome. And so simple! The cheese is almost not necessary. Next time I will skip it and just grate some parm over each serving.

I added ground pork to the meatballs as well but kept everything else intact. I'd suggest using smaller pasta (mini rigatoni, small bowties, etc) so that they can really soak up the sauce. For step-by-step photos and instructions, check out my post: http://www.icancookthat.org/2015/06/quick-meatball-and-pasta-bake.html

I followed the recipe exactly and it was just okay. I expected more flavor. Also, the meatballs were still pink inside, so the recipe cooking time needs tweaking. Three stars for ease of making and for potential.