Baked Ziti
This is a “stick to your ribs” dish for sure. Lots of meat and yummy marinara topped two kinds of shredded cheese.
Equipment
- Deep lasagna pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound ziti pasta
- 1 pound Italian sausage, mild or hot, see Notes
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 red onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning,
- 2 24-ounce jars store-bough marinara, or homemade
- 1 15-ounce ricotta cheese, whole milk or part skim
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, choppeed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 16 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup Parmesan or Asiago cheese, shredded
- kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large stockpot, cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Add a good pinch, about a tablespoon, of kosher salt to the water and allow to come to a rolling boil. Cook the pasta until “al dente,” having a little “bite” to it (not super-soft). Drain the pasta. Pour the pasta back into the stockpot and set aside. (*I try not to add oil to the cooking water because I’d like for the sauce to stick to the tubes of ziti.)
- In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, parsley, basil, white pepper and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and set aside.
- Heat a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add the sausage and ground beef. Allow the meat to brown, not stirring for about 2 minutes. Then break up the meat with a spoon and stir.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic and stir the mixture and allow to cook until the onions are just softened and the meats are no longer pink. Drain the fat from the meat mixture.
- Add the marinara and Italian seasoning to the meat mixture and stir. Allow the mixture to come up to a boil, then lower the heat to low; cook for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.
- After tasting for seasoning, let the sauce continue to cook on low for another 5 to 10 minutes to allow the flavors to “marry.”
- Pour the sauce over the noodles in the stockpot and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Grease a deep lasagna pan.
- Pour half of the noodles-meat mixture into the pan and spread evenly.
- “Dollop” the ricotta evenly across the mixture.
- Pour the remaining half of the noodles-meat mixture over the ricotta.
- Top with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand for about 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
The nutrition chart is calculated with whole milk mozzarella cheese.
The nutrition chart doesn’t contain any extra added salt. Just what would be included in the marinara, ricotta, etc. Please, calculate the nutrition for yourself if needed. This is only an estimate.
Nutrition Facts
Baked Ziti
Amount per Serving
Calories
683
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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