Baked Ziti - A Comforting Italian - American Classic Dish

Baked Ziti - A Comforting Italian - American Classic Dish

Baked ziti is the ultimate Italian comfort food, and this recipe brings all the flavors of Sunday dinner to your table.

Tender pasta is layered with a rich tomato meat sauce, creamy ricotta, and plenty of gooey mozzarella before baking to perfection.

Growing up, my mom made a similar baked pasta dish rigatoni al forno. Give it a try, you might be surprised at how much you like it! Or try my Mom's Lasagna recipe, my Penne alla Vodka with Chicken or my Creamy Burrata Tortellini Salad.

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Prep Time 1

Cook Time 45

Resting 10

Total Time 1 55

Course Main Entrées

Cuisine Italian

Servings

Calories 688 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Sauce

4 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 lbs ground beef veal, pork, turkey or chicken
½ tsp salt
ground pepper optional, amount to your preference
26 oz tomato puree
3 tbsp tomato paste
4 leaves fresh basil

For the Pasta

15 oz pasta ziti, rigatoni, penne
½ tsp salt
½ cups parmesan cheese or romano cheese, grated
½ tsp salt
½ cups ricotta
½ cups mozzarella shredded
¾ cups pasta water reserved, or broth

Instructions

For the Sauce

In a large saucepan heat up the olive oil and cook the garlic until fragrant.
4 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic
Add the veal to the skillet breaking it to pieces as you add it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the meat as it cooks. Once veal is cooked. Add tomato paste and stir into coat all of the ground meet.
1 lbs ground beef, ½ tsp salt, ground pepper, 3 tbsp tomato paste
Add tomato puree and bring to boil. Add basil. The sauce will cook down and get thick, if necessary add ½ cup of water if the sauce is too thick.
26 oz tomato puree, 4 leaves fresh basil
Bring down to a simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes.

For the Pasta

While sauce is cooking, place a pot of water to boil, add salt to water and cook pasta partially, about ¾ of the way cooked (less than al dente. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven.
15 oz pasta, ½ tsp salt
Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water for the assembly. Drain pasta and run under cold water to stop cooking process. Place the pasta in a large bowl or return to empty pot.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350℉ degrees.
Place about half of the sauce into the bowl with the pasta. Mix well. Add half shredded mozzarella. Mix well.
½ cups mozzarella
In a small bowl, combine ricotta, salt and parmesan cheese. Mix well and set aside
½ tsp salt, ½ cups ricotta, ½ cups parmesan cheese
In a medium sized baking dish (9 x 8), layer some sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Pour half of the pasta mixture in the dish. Spread a ¼ of the remaining sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the more mozzarella on top. top pasta with spoonful's of the ricotta mixture using up half of the mixture.
Pour the rest of the pasta mixture on top. Top with remaining mozzarella and ricotta cheese. Spread the remaining sauce over pasta. Add some of the reserved pasta water on each corner of the dish allowing it to fall to the bottom.
¾ cups pasta water
Bake at 350°F degrees for 45 minutes covered with foil. You will know when it is done when a fork is easily inserted in the pasta and the pasta is soft. Once the pasta is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it stand for about 15 minutes so that it sets and is easy to scoop and serve.

Notes

Top Tips

Break up your meat with the back of a wooden spoon as it's cooking in the skillet.

Cook your pasta al dente, which means "with a bite" or slightly undercooked.

Taste before seasoning your tomato sauce. Most store bough tomato puree has added salt to preserve the freshness of the product. Best to taste your sauce before adding salt.

If you prepared your ziti ahead of time and are taking it from fridge to oven, allow for approximately another 10 minutes of cook time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 688kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 32gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 945mgPotassium: 1022mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 986IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 245mgIron: 5mg

Keyword baked pasta, comfort food, rice

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