Beautiful Baked Ziti

Here is a great recipe that my mother shared with me - - I prepared it over the weekend, divided it in half, served one pan, and froze the other. Steve loved it, so this recipe is definitely a "keeper".

Beautiful Baked Ziti (serves 12)

Ingredients

One package sweet Italian sausage, cooked as directed and cut into coin slices (*I used low fat turkey sausage)

8 oz. dry penne pasta, cooked according to package instructions

26 oz. jar pasta sauce

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

1 tbsp. chopped garlic

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. black pepper

10 oz. package frozen garlic bread, thawed and cut into 12 slices

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (*I only used about 1.5 cups)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 12 slices

12 fresh whole basil leaves

In a large bowl, mix cooked sausage, cooked pasta, pasta sauce, water, chopped basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and pepper. Toss gently. Place mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Place 12 slices of garlic bread on top of the mixture and cover with mozzarella. Dip tomato slices in olive oil and place on each bread slice. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through. Tuck basil leaf slightly under each tomato. Let stand 10 minutes to help set before slicing and serving.

*Mine browned a little more than I would have liked, so I gently set a piece of tin foil over the top when I noticed it was browning too much, and turned the temp down to 375 degrees. Also, I omitted the tomato slices for the batch that I froze, and will add them when I cook it.