Italian · Main · Easy
Baked Ziti
Ziti layered with sausage-spiked marinara, creamy ricotta, and a golden blanket of melted mozzarella, baked until bubbly and browned at the edges.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Baked Ziti, in 5 ideas
- Undercook the pasta by 2 minutes, it finishes in the oven, and fully cooked pasta turns to mush.
- The egg in the ricotta binds it into creamy layers instead of a grainy smear.
- Rest the dish before cutting, slicing straight out of the oven gives you a sloppy pile instead of clean layers.
- Shred your own mozzarella, low-moisture block cheese melts smoothly while pre-shredded bags stay grainy.
- Browning the sausage well before the sauce goes in builds the deep flavor that carries the whole dish.
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 lb ziti
- 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
- 1 lb low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 egg
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Fresh basil, for serving
How to make it
Directions
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Boil the ziti until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Drain.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble in the sausage and cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook 1 minute.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and simmer 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, stir the ricotta with the egg, half the Parmesan, salt, and pepper until smooth.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, layer: half the ziti, half the ricotta mixture, half the sauce, half the mozzarella. Repeat the layers once more, ending with mozzarella and the remaining Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes until golden and bubbling.
- Rest 10 minutes before serving so the layers set. Top with fresh basil.
Baked ziti is a freezer hero, assemble it in a foil pan, freeze before baking, and bake from frozen with 20 extra minutes for a no-effort weeknight dinner.