Baked Ziti - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Sauce
4 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 -3 teaspoons basil
2 -3 teaspoons oregano
3 cloves crushed garlic (or more)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 -3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 -3 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
meatballs (browned only)
uncooked Italian sausage, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
Pasta Mixture
2 lbs ziti pasta, cooked and drained
1 1/2 - 2 lbs ricotta cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 -3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Begin by preparing sauce as follows: In a large dutch oven, saute onions and garlic in olive oil 1 or 2 minutes.
Empty all four cans of crushed tomatoes into pot.
Add basil, oregano, salt, crushed red pepper and brown sugar.
Stir, bring to a boil and let simmer about 20 minutes.
Stir sauce (this is when I usually will\"taste adjust\" any ingredients such as brown sugar and salt).
Add meatballs that have just been browned and uncooked itailian sausage.
Cover and simmer sauce for about 1 1/2- 2 hrs.
About 10 minutes before sauce is done, mix ricotta cheese, eggs and parmesan cheese in a large bowl.
Add about 2 1/2 cups of sauce to the cheese mixture and mix well.
(Keep remaining sauce with meatballs and sausage warm).
Toss cooked ziti with cheese/sauce mixture and spoon into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
(you may need a larger pan or more than 1 pan).
Sprinkle pasta with mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hr.
Serve pasta with the extra sauce, meatballs and sausage ladled over top of each serving.