Baked Ziti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

6 eggs
4 lbs ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
2 tablespoons fresh basil 
salt and pepper
3 lbs Italian sausage links
4 lbs ziti, cooked, refreshed and drained
8 oz Parmesan cheese, grated 
3 quarts fresh tomato sauce (recipe follows) -Or use spaghetti sauce.
2 pounds Mozzarella cheese, shredded 

Combine the eggs, ricotta cheese, thyme, oregano, basil, salt and
pepper. Mix well and reserve. Place the sausage links in a
2-inch-deep full-sized hotel pan. Cook in a 350 F oven for 20
minutes. Remove and cool. Drain the sausage. Slice the links into
rounds and reserve. Place the ziti in the hotel pan that was used
to cook the sausage. Top with an even coating of the cheese mixture,
sausage slices and Parmesan cheese. Pour the tomato sauce over the
top layer and stir slightly to distribute the sauce. Bake at 375
F for 1 hour. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the pasta and
return to the oven for 10 minutes. Serve.


Fresh Tomato Sauce

8 oz onion, small dice 
4 oz carrot, small dice 
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 oz olive oil 
7 pounds tomato concasse (coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
2 tablespoon fresh thyme 
salt
pepper
1/2 oz fresh basil, chopped

Sweat the onion, carrot and garlic in the olive oil until tender.
Add the concasse and herbs. Simmer for about 1 hour or until the
desired consistency is reached. Pass the sauce through a food mill
if a smooth consistency is desired. Adjust seasonings and add the
chopped basil.

Concasse - (kawn-ka-SAY) The term for chopping a vegetable coarsely. This is used most often when referring to chopped tomatoes.