Recipe Friday: Baked Ziti

Evan's not a huge fan of meatless dishes.  Even spaghetti he thinks should have meatballs or meat sauce.  He's also not a huge fan of things that are home-made and "should" be store bought (bread, tomato sauce, NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER).  So when he sampled this dish right out of the oven and exclaimed, "It's GOOD!", tasted more, and said, "No, it's really good!"  I knew I had to share this recipe.
I've tried similar recipes where you make your own "sauce"  and they always turn out kind of bland.  Not so with this one.  It was really pretty simple to make and, clearly, had good results.  It's from the Weelicious cookbook (yet again!) and it blurb at the top of the page says she gave it to a friend who had just had a baby.  This would be a PERFECT thing for that, or potluck or anything like this.  If Evan liked it, it's sure to go over well with other meat-lovers!  (Side note, I actually used rigatoni instead of ziti to make it.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you could probably use and shape of paste  you want.)

Baked Ziti

Olive oil or cooking spray
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (about 1/2 C)
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
one 28 oz can diced tomatoes
one 16 oz box ziti, cooked
2 C grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9x11 baking dish with cooking spray,
2. In a large saute pan over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add the onion, bell pepper and the salt and sauté for 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes.  The sauce with thicken as it cooks.
4. Combine the sauce, pasta, and the cheeses in a bowl and pour the mixture into the baking dish.
5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbling and browned on top.