How To Make Lentil Baked Ziti
Make your dinner meals more filling with our scrumptious baked ziti! It’s loaded with lentils and tasteful seasonings for a hearty dish.
Serves:
Ingredients
For Lentils:
- 1tbspolive oil
- 1red onionchopped
- ¼tspsalt
- 2garlic clovespressed or minced
- 1¼cupregular brown lentilspicked over for debris and rinsed
- 3cupswater
For Pasta:
- 12ozwhole grain zitior rigatoni or penne pasta
- 8ozpart-skim mozzarella cheesegrated, divided
- saltto taste
- freshly ground black pepperto taste
- red pepper flakes
- 23.5ozNewman’s Own Organics Marinaradivided
- 1cupcottage cheeseor ricotta cheese
- fresh basil leavesfor garnishing
Instructions
Lentils:
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In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering.
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Add the onion and salt.
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Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is turning translucent.
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Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
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Add the lentils and water, then stir to combine.
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Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a simmer.
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Reduce the heat to medium-low, then gently simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the lentils are tender and cooked through.
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Drain the mixture well in a fine-mesh sieve, then return the lentils to their pot. Set aside.
Pasta:
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
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Cook the pasta just until al dente, according to package directions.
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Drain and return the pasta to the pot.
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Add the lentils to the pasta.
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Add ½ cup of the cheese, then season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.
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Pour 1 cup of the marinara sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
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Spread the sauce around with a spatula to coat the dish.
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Pour the lentil and pasta mixture into the baker, then spread until evenly distributed.
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Add a dollop cottage cheese in big spoonfuls over the pasta, then just lightly swirl the mixture to distribute.
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Drizzle the rest of the sauce evenly over the dish, then gently spread it over the pasta.
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Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella evenly over the dish.
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Cover the baker tightly with aluminum foil, making sure it doesn’t touch the cheese.
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Bake for 30 minutes.
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Remove the covering, then increase the heat to 450 degrees F.
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Continue baking for 3 to 9 minutes until the cheese on top is golden and spotty.
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Remove the baking dish from the oven, then let cool for 10 minutes.
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Sprinkle freshly torn basil on top, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Calories: 405.26kcal
- Fat: 10.89g
- Saturated Fat: 5.31g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 3.58g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.84g
- Carbohydrates: 54.58g
- Fiber: 5.04g
- Sugar: 3.46g
- Protein: 22.49g
- Cholesterol: 30.01mg
- Sodium: 551.48mg
- Calcium: 217.60mg
- Potassium: 385.24mg
- Iron: 2.72mg
- Vitamin A: 68.37µg
- Vitamin C: 2.83mg
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