Venison baked ziti

Another recipe using venison from the hunter in the house! Ground venison is similar to ground beef but contains less fat. Mixed with ground pork, the meat is tender and flavorful.

Venison Baked Ziti

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian, wisconsin

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

Noodles

• 1 16oz ziti noodles
• 6 cups water
• dash salt

Meat Sauce

• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 cup Onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 lb Ground venison
• 1 lb Ground pork
• Salt and pepper
• 1 quart Tomato sauce
• 1 15oz can Diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp Oregano

Cheese layer

• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 16oz Ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 Eggs
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp Oregano

On Top!

• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan

Instructions

 

• Begin by boiling water in large pot with dash of salt.
• Add noodles to water and stir to prevent sticking to bottom. Boil for 8-9 minutes or until ziti is al dente or slightly firm. The ziti will cook further during the baking process so you don't want to overcook them during the boiling step. Drain noodles and set aside.
• Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add diced onions, ground venison, ground beef, and salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and meat is cooked through. Drain onto papertowel lined plate.
• Return drained meat and onion to dutch oven and add crushed garlic. Cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).
• Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano, and italian seasoning.
• Cover and simmer meat sauce for 30 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes.
• While meat sauce is simmering, prepare the cheese mixture.
• In a mixing bowl, combine mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, eggs, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Remove dutch oven from heat and pour ziti noodles into dutch oven. Stir to combine well with the sauce.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly grease a 9x13 pyrex dish.
• Pour half of meat mixture into the pan and spread out evenly on bottom.
• Dollop cheese mixture over the meat/ziti mixture and lightly spread over the meat mixture.
• Pour remainder of meat/ziti mixture over the cheese mixture and gently spread evenly.
• Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan to top it off.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes to slightly brown the top.
• Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Keyword venison