Skillet Ziti with Sausage and Beef
Pasta cooked in its own sauce over a fire, no colander and no drained water.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 950 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Lean ground beef | 1 lb | cooler item, cook it the first night |
|---|---|---|
| Spicy Italian sausage | 1 lb | casings removed, or use bulk |
| Canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes | 28 oz | |
| Tomato paste | 2 tbsp | tube paste beats a can, no leftovers |
| Garlic | 6 cloves | minced at home, or 2 tsp granulated |
| Sugar | 2 tsp | |
| Dried basil | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried oregano | 2 tsp | |
| Crushed red pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Water | 4 cups | |
| Dry ziti | 1 lb | |
| Shredded mozzarella | 2 cups | low-moisture, cooler item |
| Grated parmesan | 1/4 cup | the shelf-stable green can works |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Set a 12-inch cast iron skillet or a deep pot on the grate over a bed of coals, not open flame. Add the oil.
- Brown the beef and sausage together, breaking up the clumps, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for one more minute.
- Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, basil, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper.
- Add 4 cups of water and the dry ziti. Stir so the pasta is under the liquid.
- Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes so nothing welds to the bottom. Pull coals out from under the pan if it boils hard.
- When the pasta is soft and the sauce has thickened, scatter the mozzarella and parmesan on top.
- Cover for 5 minutes off direct heat to melt the cheese, then serve out of the pan.
Pasta cooked in the sauce instead of in a separate pot of water is the whole point in camp. You skip the second boil, you skip the colander, and you skip dumping a gallon of starchy water somewhere it shouldn’t go. The starch stays in the pan and thickens the sauce, so no roux or extra paste is needed at the end.
The ratio matters more than the timing: four cups of water to a pound of dry ziti. Too much and it stays soupy, too little and the bottom scorches before the pasta softens. Cook it over coals rather than flame and stir often. This one is a cooler recipe by design, so make it the first night out.
Packing
Combine sugar, basil, oregano, red pepper, salt, and pepper in one small bag at home. Ziti travels in its own bag; the box is wasted volume. Meat and mozzarella stay in the cooler, and this is a first- or second-night dinner.
Variations
- Drop the beef and use two pounds of sausage. Fewer things to keep cold.
- No cooler: swap both meats for two foil pouches of chicken and stir them in at the end.
- A can of drained white beans in place of the beef adds bulk without refrigeration.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/one-pan-baked-ziti