Baked Ziti with Ricotta, Ground Beef, and Pork

Hello, and welcome to the Cuban Redneck kitchen! I started the Cuban Redneck DIY channel to showcase many of the tips and tricks I have learned over more than four decades of working on race cars, motorcycles, boats, and not only engine mods but fiberglassing, painting, lure making, and much more. However, I also dabble in the kitchen every once in a while. Besides having been on my own since an early age, and it was either cook or starve, along with a little bit of experience gathered from working at several commercial kitchens during my late teens, the kitchen has never scared me!

Adding Cuban cuisine recipes to a DIY blog may sound out of place at first, but I think that most of my DIY audience enjoy a good weekend either grilling or smoking fish or other meets, and who can forget desserts? I am not here to teach you how to cook but to show you how growing up in a Spanish household guided my pallet towards a particular taste profile that, although I have yet to master, I am working on perfecting every time I cook. That and the fact that I now live some 200 miles from Miami, causing my phone to ring more often than not with somebody asking about a Cuban recipe!

I guess I’ll start this new blog section with what I call a take-along meal! In South Florida, we often spend days at the beach, the sandbank, and sometimes even the entire weekend down at the Florida Keys. Rather than dealing with less than certain cooking facilities, we often carry with us pre-cooked complete meals that all we have to worry about is reheating! In a worst-case scenario, we can always eat it cold or whatever heat the sun can provide us! Lasagna is probably my go-to meal when it comes to his, but this time around, I decided to venture out into something I have not done in a while, and that being a Baked Ziti with Ricotta, Ground Beef, and Pork! Although in hindsight, I should have called it Baked Macaroni with Ricotta, Ground Beef, and Pork, since I didn’t have any Ziti or Penne, and I ended using some large elbows I had in my pantry.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and the assembly the same as with a classic baked ziti. The big difference is going to come from the taste profile! There is where the Cuban cuisine aspect o this recipe comes into play! Cubans and most Spanish descendants, including Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Columbians, etc., are not too fun of the sweet profile many authentic Italian recipes have. What we know in the US as Italian cuisine is an American-Italian variation made famous in the New York area. Here is where Italian immigrants comingle with Irish and others to develop what we know today as classic Italian-American cuisine.

This recipe is quite flexible and ideal for camping trips and days at the beach and if you need to feed a large group at a birthday party, a Superbowl party, or merely looking to break the routine. Let’s start with the ingredients.

• 16 oz of any large pasta Ziti, Penne, Macaroni
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 8 oz of Parmesan & Romano Grated Cheese
• 16 oz of Mozzarella Cheese (grated by sliced also work well)
• 15 oz of Ricotta Cheese
• (2X) 24 oz bottles of Marinara Pasta Sauce
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

NOTES:

* You will need a 13X9X2 Non-Stick Baking Pan or Baking Dish

* Notice that I didn’t mention any brands. I’ll leave it up to you to choose the brands and quality of ingredients you want to use. The recipe can cost as little as $13.00 and as high as $41.00. It goes without saying, the better the choice of ingredients, the better the result.

• Open your packages of beef and pork and break them apart with a wooden spatula in a large skillet or pan (with lid), spreading it out as much as possible.
• Mix your equal parts dry seasoning (1 tsp Sea Salt, 1 tsp Black Pepper, 1 tsp Cumin, 1 tsp Onion Powder, and 1 tsp Garlic Powder) into a small container and pour it all over your meats.
• With the wooden spatula, not your hands, work seasoning into the meat until you can’t see any seasoning, and the pork and beef are well mixed. Let it stand covered for about 30-40 minutes. If you are going to leave it longer than that, set it back in the fridge!
• After your meats have been sitting for 30-40 minutes, it should have turned a little darker, which means it has absorbed that seasoning. Set your pan or skillet on medium-high heat and monitor it as it comes up to temperature. Continue to work the meat and break it down so that you don’t end up with large lumps. We want the meat chunky but not like meatballs!
• As the meat starts to turn brown and looks like it’s almost done, pour the two jars of Marinara sauce into the pan and mix it in. Fill both jars with water and add that also. When it is all mixed and after making sure there is nothing stuck at the bottom, turn the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 1 hour.

At about the 50-minute mark, we want to get started with our pasta. Follow the instruction on the package for the amount of water, salt, and time. However, we want to take this off the stove and rinse it about a minute before done! It will cook a little more once we bake it!

After both your pasta and meat sauce are done, we need to get ready for assembly. Deposit both your meat sauce and pasta into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a folding motion. We are looking for a balanced pasta and meat sauce mix. Let it stand for 3-4 minutes to allow the liquids to settle at the bottom.

Meanwhile, open all three of your cheese container and set yourself up in a comfortable location with ample counter space. After your mixing bowl has been sitting for a few minutes and the top is starting to look a little dry, we are ready to begin.

With a large ladle, transfer half of your pasta mix into the baking pan or dish. Skimming from the top and not digging in too deep. We want the dryer part at the bottom. Putting the wetter pasta as the top layer prevents it from drying during the baking process.

We are now ready for our first layer of cheese! I recommend you take two small plates and separate the Mozzarella into two equal portions, or you may end up short on the top layer as I always do! Anyways, start with the Ricotta. I use two spoons to deposit dollar size portions in a grid format at an equal distance. Then add the Mozzarella, followed by the Parmesan & Romano.

When the cheese layer looks even and has good coverage, move on to the second layer of pasta, and eventually, the last layer of cheese. Know that you can double up on the Mozzarella and use a bag for the middle layer and one for the top for a cheesy baked ziti.

Your masterpiece needs to go into a pre-heated 375-degree oven for about  30-40 minutes or until the top turns a golden color! Don’t dig in immediately though; it needs to stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. But honestly, it is always so much better the day after!

I hope you find this post from the Cuban Redneck kitchen appealing. I am looking to find a balance between what the audience wants and what I would like the channel to be, so we’ll see how we make the best of it! Thank you for stopping by and look for the Cuban Redneck DIY channel on YouTube and Facebook!