Baked Ziti with Pancetta & Olives

• 1 pound Ziti Pasta
• 1/4 pounds Pancetta, (about 6 Thin Slices), Cut Into Small Pieces
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 pound 93/7 Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
• 8 whole Small Porcini Mushrooms, Sliced Lengthwise
• 1/2 cups Assorted Olives, Pitted, Drained, And Chopped (I Use A Greek Or Italian Blend)
• 1/4 cups Chopped Roasted Red Peppers, Or More To Taste
• 48 ounces, weight Canned Crushed Tomatoes (I Use Cento Brand, From Italy)
• 1/2 cups Fat Free Milk (optional)
• 1/2 cups Fat Free Mozzarella
• 1/4 cups Regular Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 teaspoon Salt, Or To Taste

1. Get your pasta going while we begin the rest.
2. Once the water comes up to a boil, add salt, and a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), which is a little trick to keep the pasta from sticking together, even after youve drained it.
3. Cook until al dente; you want a bit of a bite to it, because it will continue cooking in the oven.
4. Oh, speaking of, nows a good time to heat your oven to 350F.
5. Put a small pat of butter and about 1 tablespoon of EVOO in a large saute pan, set on medium-high heat.
6. Toss in your pancetta and cook until the pieces start to become crisp.
7. Remove from the pan and set aside.
8. Now say, Mmmm, pork fat, yum!
9. There really isnt that much residual fat in the pan, so dont freak out.
10. Now throw your diced onion in the SAME PANdont wipe out the pan, thats un-American!
11. Cook the onions until theyre translucent, and a litte brown on the edges.
12. Throw in your garlic, and whirl around for about a minute.
13. Youll smell it when it becomes fragrant, and thats all the direct heat it needs.
14. Now add your ground beef to the pan, and start breaking up into tiny crumbles.
15. When most of the pink is gone, toss in your rosemary, and the mushrooms, and saute for about 3 minutes.
16. Push the mixture over to one side of the pan, and toss in your chopped olives and roasted red peppers.
17. Mix those around together to get them heated through, then mix everything together.
18. Season with salt and pepper here to your liking.
19. Now its time for your crushed tomatoes.
20. Add those in, and stir to combine.
21. Now is when I add in the 1/2 cup of fat-free milk.
22. Its not neccesarily for flavor here, were just using it to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
23. You dont have to do it.
24. Now, if you were going for a romanesco sauce, youd want to use something like CREAM here, then were talking about a completely different sauce.
25. But Im trying to be good with this recipe.
26. Let all of this loveliness cook on medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes.
27. You really want the flavors to dance around and play with each other, and give that tomato sauce time to mellow out.
28. You want a slight bubbling in the pan, and give it a stir every couple of minutes.
29. Now, throw your cooked pasta in and combine.
30. Spray a large lasagna pan with cooking spray, and dump the mixture in.
31. Sprinkle the top with your pancetta bits, and the cheese, and pop it into the oven for about 15-20 minutes.
32. All you want here is for the cheese to melt and get a little brown, the edges to be bubbling a bit, and I love it when the ziti pieces that are poking out on top get crunchy.
33. Mmm, good stuff!

pasta, butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, ground beef, rosemary, porcini mushrooms, assorted olives, red peppers, tomatoes, milk, mozzarella, regular sharp, salt

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/baked-ziti-with-pancetta-olives/ (may not work)