Crockpot Baked Ziti

Last Wednesday we celebrated my MIL's birthday. We had them over for supper. I wanted to do something fairly easy to throw together. A pasta bake is always my go to. I had heard from a friend that she did a baked ziti in the crockpot and it turned out great, so I figured I would give it a try!

I searched pinterest for a recipe and found this one. I have adapted the recipe some based on our preferences.

I am nor every will I be a food blogger...so my pictures are nothing spectacular, but this recipe is the bomb!

 Ingredients:

* 1 Lb ground beef (chicken or turkey will do as well!)
* 2 jars marinara sauce (I used Rao's tomato basil, by far my favorite!)
* 1 box penne noodles (uncooked!)
* shredded mozzarella cheese
* shredded parmesan cheese
* 1 16 oz container ricotta cheese (not pictured)
* Italian seasoning

Steps: 

* Brown the beef 

* Spray your crockpot with Pam, or use one of those handy liners! (I actually remembered to use one this time, makes cleanup so easy) 

* One the beef is browned drain the fat and add one jar of sauce into the pan 

* In a separate bowl combine ricotta and italian seasoning 

* add some of the meat sauce to the bottom of your crockpot 

* next add 1/3 of the UNCOOKED noodles 

* top the noodles with 1/2 of the ricotta mixture

* sprinkle mozzarella on top of ricotta

* repeat these steps layering sauce, noodles, ricotta ending with the sauce on top. I added in about 1/2-3/4 of the second jar of sauce in with my layers of sauce. 

* Cook on low for 2- 3 hours ( I did about 2 1/2 hours) 

* 30 minutes prior to serving top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It will melt and get super gooey! 

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the final product until after we had eaten about half of it! It came our so good, the noodles were not soggy and a perfect consistency! 

This was super easy to throw together, I did it all during nap time. It makes a lot so will be perfect for a crowd or to have leftovers throughout the week. We served it with some french bread and I would usually do a salad but I forgot to get it at the grocery store. 

*Linking up with Beth and The Blended Blog