Baked Ziti – classic Italian comfort nutrient made alongside hearty pasta, flavorful sausage, a homemade marinara in addition to layered amongst ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese! It’s a lot like lasagna merely it’s faster since layers are lazier, just of course it tastes as every bit good!
The Best Baked Ziti Recipe!
Something nearly winter simply says comfort nutrient, right? It’sec so squeamish to merely cozy upwardly to a warm from the oven dinner on a bitter cold day.
And it’second ever overnice to dive into a baked ziti dish that’s loaded alongside that deliciously irresistible, melty gooey cheese! It’sec made amongst three kinds, who could resist that?
Plus this is one of those casserole mode dinners that makes groovy leftovers. The flavors merely get that much more than fourth dimension to meld in the fridge until the side by side mean solar day.
The Homemade Sauce
What really sets the baked ziti apart is the flavorful sauce. Fresh homemade is e'er best right?
It’sec improve than bottled sauce as well as worth the extra try!
And amongst this sauce it’s all nigh those fresh herbs. Don’t skip them, they add together then much flavor to this baked ziti!
Ingredients for the Baked Ziti Sauce
- Olive crude oil
- Yellow onion
- Mild sausage
- Garlic
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Canned tomato glue
- Fresh basil too parsley
- Salt in addition to pepper
Ingredients Needed for Baked Ziti
- Homemade sauce
- Egg
- Ricotta cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Ziti pasta
How to Make Baked Ziti
- Preheat oven and boil water: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (for pasta).
- For the sauce: Heat olive rock oil in a large saute pan, add together onions as well as saute ii minutes so add sausage as well as prepare, stirring as well as breaking upwardly sausage occasionally, until cooked through, adding inward garlic during concluding i minute, drain excess fatty.
- Stir inwards crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, love apple glue, basil, ii Tbsp parsley in addition to season alongside common salt too pepper to sense of taste. Bring mixture to a light boil, so trim down rut, comprehend too simmer 10 minutes.
- Too fix pasta: Cook pasta according to packet directions near a minute shy of al dente. Drain pasta while reserving one/four loving cup of the pasta water.
- Return pasta to empty pot, like a shot add together reserved pasta H2O together with ane loving cup of the reddish sauce so toss pasta to coat.
- For the cheeses: In a mixing bowl using a fork stir together ricotta, egg, ii Tbsp parsley too season amongst common salt too pepper. Mix inward ane 1/two cups of the mozzarella as well as ane/ii cup of the parmesan.
- To get together the ziti: Grease a baking dish. Spread one 1/iii cups of the sauce into bottom of dish, then spread 1/2 of the pasta over sauce elevation alongside spoonfuls of ricotta mixture, flatten downwardly slightly.
- Top alongside remaining pasta. Spoon remaining sauce evenly over pasta layer. Sprinkle height evenly amongst remaining two cups of the mozzarella and one/iv cup parmesan.
- To fix the baked ziti: Tent baking dish alongside foil and bake 15 minutes and then uncover and bake 10 – 15 minutes longer until cheese is melted throughout. Serve warm.
How to Make the Easiest Baked Ziti?
Looking to simplify the recipe? I know existent life happens together with sometimes we but necessitate shortcuts. You could go far super easy past:
- Use bottled Rao’second tomato plant basil sauce in place of the homemade sauce (therefor omitting garlic, onion, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum paste together with the fresh herbs. Just ready sausage and so add sauce, no postulate to simmer).
- If using bottled sauce yous’ll want near ane one/2 (24 oz jars).
- Another pick would live to role adept quality pre-shredded cheeses.
Can I Make it Vegetarian?
Yes, if you desire it meatless just omit the sausage. Leave everything else the same, not extra filler is needed.
This will besides cutting calories inwards the dish.
Can I Use a Different Type of Meat?
Yes other meats yous tin role inwards home of ground Italian sausage include:
- lean ground beef
- ground pork
- earth turkey
- earth veal
- role a blend of those mentioned
More Italian Recipes to Try!
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- i Tbsp olive crude
- one 3/4 cup chopped xanthous onions (i medium onion)
- one lb Mild or Hot Italian Sausage, such equally Johnsonville
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- one (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- ane (14.five oz) tin can petite diced tomatoes
- iii Tbsp tomato plant paste
- ane/3 cup slightly packed chopped fresh basil, summation more than for topping
- iv Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
- Salt together with freshly earth dark pepper
- 1 (fifteen oz) container ricotta cheese
- i big egg
- three one/ii cups (xiv oz) shredded mozzarella, divided
- 3/four cup (one.7 oz) finely shredded parmesan, divided
- 16 oz dry ziti pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven together with boil H2O: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a big pot of water to a boil (for pasta).
- For the sauce: Heat olive oil inward a large saute pan (deep skillet), add onions too saute 2 minutes so add sausage as well as prepare, stirring too breaking upwardly sausage occasionally, until cooked through, adding inwards garlic during terminal i minute, drain excess fatty.
- Stir inward crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato plant paste, basil, ii Tbsp parsley too season alongside table salt in addition to pepper to gustation. Bring mixture to a lite boil, and then cut down heat to depression, cover and let to simmer ten minutes and then remove from rut.
- Too prepare pasta: Cook pasta according to parcel directions virtually a infinitesimal shy of al dente. Drain pasta while reserving i/4 loving cup of the pasta water.
- Return pasta to empty pot, at once add together reserved pasta H2O together with ane cup of the cherry-red sauce and then toss pasta to coat.
- For the cheeses: In a mixing bowl using a fork stir together ricotta, egg, 2 Tbsp parsley and flavor alongside table salt and pepper. Mix in one 1/ii cups of the mozzarella and 1/ii loving cup of the parmesan.
- To gather the ziti: Spray a thirteen by 9-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread 1 1/ii cups of the ruddy sauce evenly into bottom of dish, and so spread ane/2 of the pasta over sauce then dollop spoonfuls of ricotta mixture all over pasta as well as flatten slightly.
- Top with remaining pasta. Spoon remaining sauce evenly over pasta layer. Sprinkle top evenly amongst remaining 2 cups of the mozzarella as well as ane/iv loving cup parmesan.
- To ready the baked ziti: Tent baking dish amongst foil (don't permit it bear on the cheese or it volition stick) together with bake 15 minutes so uncover in addition to bake 10 - fifteen minutes longer until cheese is melted throughout. Serve warm.
Notes
- For a more than browned topping you lot tin can broil during final few minutes of baking (as long as you aren't using a glass baking dish).
- If you'd like a spicy baked ziti and so add 1/four - i/2 tsp scarlet pepper flakes to sauce.
Recipe get-go published Dec 17, 2015. Photos in addition to text updated Feb 24, 2020.