Caio Italia- Ziti with Eggplant & Olives

My husband knows great Italian food, and can also make it- which is such a blessing! We love FOOD, period, but both of us being Italian-as seemingly impossible as claiming a "favorite" food is- we'd have to say Italian. 

He was the one who discovered the Ciao Italia show on PBS (?) and started tivo'ing it. We'd watched a few episodes and everything, I mean EVERYTHING looked so delicious!! 

We had to try one of the recipes, I picked the mac n cheese right away (which Nate did make for me on my birthday and it was AH-MAH-ZING) and he picked this recipe that I was really excited to try too!!

Believe it or not, this is actually something I could qualify as an "easy-weeknight-dinner" which is stunning for how much fabulous flavor and the awesome ingredients used. It's also beyond perfect for Friday nights during Lent (which is when I made this a few weeks ago). 

I prepped everything during Logan's first nap (took me less than 30 minutes!! But, he's actually been indulging me and napping for up to an hour at least one of his two naps a day now- which is fantastic)

From there it's pretty easy to throw together and eat! 

Because I really have the very most respect for Mary Ann and this fantastic recipe, and I really did not make any modifications at all (with the exception of being a little heavy-handed with the cheese- as usual)

I think it's right to post the link to her site for the recipe~

 Oven Baked Ziti

ENJOY!!!!