Baked Ziti for George and Company

Baked Ziti for George’s Friends (10x 15 inch pan)

2 lbs ziti noodles

2 cans petite tomatoes – pizza sauce recipe plus 1 t fennel

1 can of ground tomatoes

1 lb cottage cheese seasoned with fresh basil and nutmeg

2 lbs mozzarella and provolone cheese diced or shredded

Cook the noodles until they are almost al dente. Mix the sauce with seasoning (garlic, oregano, salt, crushed pepper flakes, plus crushed fennel seed or fennel pollen) like pizza sauce. Dice half of the cheese. Drain the noodles and mix in the diced cheese and sauce. Spread half the mixture in the 10 x 15 baking pan. Then spread ⅔ of the cottage cheese sauce over the noodles and sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Spread rest of the noodle mixture followed by the rest of the cheese sauce. Give the layers a subtle swirl before topping with parmesan and the rest of the mozz/prov mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the center is about 160 degrees — 55 minutes or so.