Baked Ziti
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This was a new addition to my recipe list. I usually make a simple pasta with a meat sauce, and Sue will make a large lasagna now and then. Not that I haven’t eaten my share – Italian restaurants in Des Moines are famous for their baked Cavatelli dishes, usually served in a small single serving casserole dish. But I had never made one before this. I found this to be delicious, and lot less work than lasagna or manicotti.
Baked Ziti
Persons
8
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Wait Time
10 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1# of Ziti or Penne pasta
- Olive oil
- 1# Italian Sausage
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh basil (or ½ Tbsp dried)
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp pepper flakes (if your sausage is spicy you may not need this)
- 1 quart tomato sauce
- 1/2# mozzarella cheese
- 1 heaping cup of ricotta cheese
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Boil the pasta to al dente. Drain and toss with a little olive oil.
- While the pasta is cooking, brown the sausage in a Tbsp of olive oil.
- Add the onions when the sausage is mostly browned and sauté until translucent.
- Add the garlic and the rest of the seasonings and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, stir well and simmer for at least 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350o.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 casserole. Dot the sauce with half of the ricotta.
- Add 1-3 ladles of sauce to the pasta and stir through, and then spread the pasta into the casserole.
- Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta, and then dot with the rest of the ricotta.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan over the top.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese on top is lightly browned.
- I like to turn the heat up to 450 for the last 5 minutes or so to get the cheese a little browner and firmer on top. This also preps the oven if I’m going to make some garlic bread.
- Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting, to firm up a little.