This healthy vegetarian baked ziti recipe includes lentils for protein. It’s a delicious dinner that makes great leftovers. Be sure to serve it with a big green side salad; my Italian chopped salad or a pared-down version of it would be perfect. Recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.
*Lentil notes: If you want to use pre-cooked lentils to save a step (they won’t be as flavorful), you’ll need about 17 ounces or 3 1/2 cups cooked lentils.
**Cottage cheese vs. ricotta: I genuinely prefer cottage cheese to ricotta here, even though I can’t stand cottage cheese on its own. Ricotta tends to get gummy when heated, which bothers me, whereas cottage cheese turns magically more creamy and delicious. Use whichever one you prefer in lasagna recipes.
Make it gluten free: Substitute sturdy gluten-free pasta (such as a corn and quinoa blend).
Change it up: You can add cooked bite-sized veggies or sautéed greens to the lentil and pasta mixture, if you’d like!
Advance preparation: I believe you could make the lentils and pasta ahead of time, refrigerate, and assemble just before baking. Matter of fact, you could probably assemble the whole thing and refrigerate until baking. It’s probably a good candidate for freezing before baking, too. Please let me know if you try.
Recipe from Cookie and Kate: https://cookieandkate.com/lentil-baked-ziti-recipe/