If your last few weeks before Christmas are as busy as mine you are probably looking for an easy way to feed your family.

Of course with discriminating tastes like mine, the food should not only be easy, but also be good.

Below is a recipe I found in an old Southern Living and used for my supper club recently. It was very easy to make and also to double.

Just because a recipe is easy doesn’t mean that it is as fine as it can possibly be.

With the addition of a few more ingredients, you can give a recipe a little more zing.

Look at your recipe and see where you can add a little more flavor.

In this case, I used half a pound of hamburger meat per recipe and also a half pound of Italian sausage. Just remove the casing and brown it with the ground meat.

Baked Ziti

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

1 (26 ounce) jar tomato and basil pasta sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1 (16 ounce) ziti pasta

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

1 grated Parmesan cheese (not the finely ground)

1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 13 by 9 baking dish with non-stick spray. Saute the chopped onion in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until tender. Add the minced garlic and sauté for a minute, don’t let it brown.

Add beef and cook until it is no longer pink. Break up any large pieces. Drain the beef mixture and return to the pan. Stir in 1 / 2 teaspoon of the salt and the pasta sauce. Set aside.

Cook your pasta in a large pot of boiling water until just barely done and drain well.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan or large skillet over low heat then whisk in the flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly for one minute, you don’t want it to brown.

Gradually whisk in the milk while cooking over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add your pasta.

Pour the pasta and sauce mixture into your greased pan. Then spread the meat sauce evenly over the pasta mixture and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before you serve.

Christina Hall writes a weekly food column for The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached by e-mail at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.