Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini

Now that several of my cousins are married, they've split off to have Thanksgiving dinner with their significant others' sides of the family. So a couple of years ago and this year, cousin Q's older brother hosted a pre-Thanksgiving for the cousins. Since I was also hosting Thanksgiving at my house, I decided to make Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini to serve at both dinners.

With the oven running constantly on Thanksgiving day, this baked ziti is easy enough to make ahead of time and simply reheated on the day of. The zucchini is my attempt to add some more vegetables into this dish since being smothered in tomato sauce and cheese makes anything taste good. It's not that different from my Italian Lasagna with Meat Sauce recipe, substituting out the wide noodles for penne or other short, round pasta.



Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini

For a 9-by-13-inch pan or two smaller ones, you'll need:
1 large onion, diced
1 lb ground turkey
2 Italian sausages, sliced
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
24-oz jar pasta sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
8-oz cottage cheese
8-oz mozzarella cheese, grated
1 lb penne pasta, parboiled

Set a pot of water to boil the penne pasta. Only lightly parboil to soften as the pasta will cook longer while baking. Drain and set aside.

While the water is boiling, in a large saucepan on medium-high heat, drizzle some olive oil and saute the diced onion until softened.



Add 1 lb ground turkey and saute until mostly cooked.



Add a few sliced Italian sausages and saute some more.



Add 1 large sliced zucchini and saute again.



Add 24-oz jar of pasta sauce and add a bit of water to swish out the jar and pour that into the pan as well. Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried parsley and saute until mixed. Turn off heat and set aside.



Mix 8-oz cottage cheese with 7-oz grated mozzarella cheese, reserving some of the mozzarella for sprinkling on top at the end.



In a large pan, or several small ones, ladle some of the sauce first to prevent the pasta from sticking.



Start the first layer of pasta.



Add some sauce.





A layer of the cottage and mozzarella cheese mixture.



A second layer of pasta.



Some more sauce.



Some more cheese. And additional mozzarella cheese on top.



Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about half an hour to 45 minutes.



If you want to bake this ahead of time, simply cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge and re-heat when ready to eat.

I carted off one of the baked zitis to my cousin's house for pre-Thanksgiving dinner.

He bought a regular turkey and an expensive heritage turkey to see if it was worth the higher price tag.



Of course, we all thought the more expensive bird tasted better. Except he baked one, and smoked the other, so it wasn't a like comparison.



Mmm. Smashed potatoes. Boiled until softened, flattened, and baked until crispy.



My baked ziti in the back.



Happy pre-Thanksgiving!



Enjoy!

New recipes served this Thanksgiving:
Brussels Sprouts Sauteed with Bacon
Candied Okinawan Purple Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow Topping
Corn Sauteed with Bacon and Green Onions
Gan Xay Ga Tay (Vietnamese Turkey Liver Pate)
Italian Baked Ziti with Ground Turkey, Sausage, and Zucchini
South African Turkey Rub with Basil, Garlic, and Smoked Paprika

*****
1 year ago today, Healthier Brown Fried Rice with Broccoli and Chicken.
2 years ago today, Seasons 52 - Costa Mesa.
3 years ago today, UCC Cafe Plaza - Walnut (Closed).
4 years ago today, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (Japanese Garden) (Spring) - San Marino.
5 years ago today, my review of 9 frozen turkey dinners in "Thanksgiving Dinner for 1 :( ."
6 years ago today, Coq au Vin (French Chicken in Wine), the meal I wished I had in Paris.