Baked Ziti

"A quick and easy way to prepare a tasty and filling pasta dish, originally from Mr. Food. Just use your favorite bottled spaghetti sauce. You can use any shape of pasta. I do add more cheese, but I love cheese!"
 
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photo by Izy Hossack photo by Izy Hossack
photo by Izy Hossack
photo by Robin M. photo by Robin M.
photo by Margie M. photo by Margie M.
photo by anme7039 photo by anme7039
photo by Izy Hossack photo by Izy Hossack
Ready In:
35mins
Ingredients:
5
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Boil ziti, following package directions, drain and place in a large bowl.
  • Mix all the ricotta cheese and half of the mozzarella with the ziti.
  • Spray a 13x9 pan with Pam.
  • Cover the bottom half of the pan with about half the sauce.
  • Put the ziti mixture on top of sauce.
  • Pour remaining sauce on top of ziti.
  • Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.
  • Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and it is lightly golden.

Questions & Replies

  1. Is nobody questioning the 1/2 lb of ziti? This must be an error with the amount of cheese and claim of feeding 8
     
  2. How well does this freeze?
     
  3. Would this be good if i added cooked kielbasa before baking
     
  4. Can you add ground beef or just make meatballs
     
  5. What is ziti pasta?
     
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Reviews

  1. Quick to make. Very easy recipe. We loved this! I made the whole recipe and put the left-over half in the freezer for another time. It tasted great! Thanks Junebug, this is a keeper!
     
  2. Easy, delicious and filling. What more can you ask for! I followed the directions exactly and it turned out wonderful...nice, cheesy taste. Next time I may add mushrooms and green peppers for some variation. Thanks for a great recipe!
     
  3. My entire family loved this recipe!!!! My husband asked what the difference was between this and lasagne...I replied about 2 hours or more of work and a lot more ingredients! This was so easy and delicious! Thanks for sharing!!!!
     
  4. Excellent so much better then my Mother in laws baked ziti. I told my wife and she gave me a dirty look.
     
  5. Update: This has become my favorite go-to Pasta Bake. Yesterday I made up batch quickly during lunch and heated it up for dinner for our three teenage boys, since my husband and I wouldn't be home for dinner. In their words, they "demolished" it.<br/><br/>I added one pound of sausage to the sauce. Also only had one cup of ricotta. Family LOVED it.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I ended up using lb of pasta (ziti or rigatoni work great for this), and added 2 spicy Italian turkey sausage crumbed and 1/2 or so of ground chicken (or beef- whatever you like or have available) to the sauce. I also added a layer of zucchini circles in the middle, and topped it all off with sliced mushrooms. We like our food on the spicy side, so also gave a nice sprinkle of crushed red peppers on top. This is a good base recipe, just add ingredients you have or enjoy to make it your own. I also added an egg to the ricotta cheese mixture. I had a few slices of provolone. Yum
     
  2. A thick layer of pepperoni in between the sauce layers would be great. I like to grill my pepperoni first before adding to the layers. The grilling removes a lot of the fat/grease that would mix in with this casserole. Then pat dry with a paper towel. Yummy crunchy!??
     
  3. I doubled the recipe and added 1 pound of ground sweet Italian sausage and 1 pound ground lean beef chuck. I used a mixture of shredded parmesan, asiago, mozzarella and cream cheese in addition to ricotta.
     
  4. I cannot imagine any type of pasta without meat to flavor the dish. Sausage,I prefer a loose,good quality, breakfast sausage.It just adds a delicious taste.If you prefer,Italian sausage but I like the breakfast sausage crumbled throughout the dish.
     
  5. Used whole box of penne pasta, added sauteed minced onions and garlic, balsalmic vinegar, & pesto to it! Used mexican shredded cheese instead of mozzarella. So yummy! ??
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am a wife, Mother and Grandmother. I am a native Texan and can't imagine living anywhere else. My Grandmother taught me to cook before I could see the top of the counter. I remember standing on a stool in her kitchen learning to make pancakes. My Mother loved to cook and it seems she was cooking (or cleaning) most of the time. So those are the two ladies responsible for nurturing my love of cooking! <a href="http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg77/monji74/?action=view&current=groupie1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg77/monji74/groupie1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> As you can see I cook and review recipes more than I post them. That's because I am a pinch of this and a dollop of that cook and it's hard to put those recipes down on paper. <img src="http://www.satsleuth.com/cooking/Swap14.JPG"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/untitled.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/200_artistrichardneuman-art-prints_.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting">
 
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