Baked ziti is a classic Italian-American comfort dish. It features ziti pasta tossed with a rich marinara sauce and creamy ricotta cheese, then topped with a generous layer of melted mozzarella and Parmesan. It’s baked until bubbly and golden, making it a hearty favorite often served with garlic bread.
How To Make Baked Ziti
Start off with fresh ingredients. You’ll need Ziti pasta, crushed tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, veggies, and seasonings
Prepare the ziti pasta by boiling it for 8 minutes in salted water. While the pasta is cooking, saute the vegetables until softened. Once the veggies are softened, add ground beef, ground sausage and crushed tomatoes.
Grate 1 pound of mozzarella cheese and 1 pound of parmesan cheese. In a large bowl add 2 15oz containers of ricotta cheese. Mix in half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan cheeses. Stir in 2 tbsp of dried parsley.
Stir half of the meat mixture into the cooked ziti pasta noodles. Next you want to pour the ziti into a large, lightly greased baking dish ( I used 11×15 )
Place the ricotta cheese mixture over top of the ziti and spread evenly. Next spread the remaining meat mixture on top of the ricotta cheese, followed by the remaining grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until your baked ziti is all bubbly and oozing with cheese. Serve with a nice green salad and some crispy garlic bread!!
Cheesy Baked Ziti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 oz Ziti pasta
- 1 28 oz Can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 Onion
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 1 Yellow bell pepper
- 1 lb Ground beef
- 1 lb Ground Italian sausage
- 30 oz Ricotta cheese
- 16 oz Mozzarella cheese grated
- 8 oz Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- 2 tbsp Parsley
- 1 tsp Basil
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the Ziti pasta for 8 minutes, drain then return to the pot
- Saute the onions and peppers in a large hot pan until softened, then add the garlic and seasonings. Cook for 1 minute then add the ground beef and pork.
- While the meat is cooking grate your parmesan and mozzarella cheese, then mix half of the cheeses with the ricotta cheese and dried parsley.
- Once the meat is almost fully cooked stir half of the mixture into the cooked ziti pasta and place it in your lightly greased baking dish.
- Top the ziti with the ricotta cheese mixture, followed by the remaining meat mixture, and the remaining grated parmesan and mozzarella cheeses on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
