Easy Baked Ziti

This Eeasy Baked Ziti is the perfect cozy, easy dinner. It’s filled with three different types of cheese, and layers of pasta tossed in a rich tomato meat sauce. The pasta is baked until the cheese is golden and bubbling. This pasta freezes well and is great for feeding a crowd.

Growing up, I ate pasta more times than I can count. I ran cross country and track in high school. For whatever reason, pasta was deemed as the best meal to eat before a race. It was thought that the carbs in the pasta would translate to energy stores in your body the next day for a race. While this is true, carb loading just the night before a race doesn’t do much of anything. Plus, carb loading isn’t entirely necessary for shorter distances. It’s more geared towards longer races, like a half marathon or marathon. I ran the 800 meters in track, which is two laps around the track. Carb loading certainly wasn’t necessary for that event.

Needless to say, I ate pasta at least twice a week, sometimes three times a week, depending on how many races I had. Pasta is one of those meals you never get sick of. To this day I still love eating pasta, and now, it reminds me of all of my races I ran in high school.

Baked Ziti is a classic pasta dish that is so easy to make. It’s loaded with cheese, a delicious creamy tomato sauce, fresh herbs and sausage. You can always leave the sausage out if you prefer. Alright, I think it’s time to get cooking!

Here’s what you need to know…

Classically, baked ziti is made with ricotta cheese. However, I found that the addition of heavy cream adds more richness and moisture to the dish. Ricotta cheese has a tendency to dry out when baked in the oven.

This baked ziti recipe uses both mozzarella and provolone cheese. I found that combining both cheeses lends to a beautiful melted cheese. Mozzarella cheese alone has more tendency to form golden brown blisters. The addition of the provolone creates a perfect stretchy, creamy layer of cheese, with the addition of the golden brown blisters from the mozzarella. I like using a blend of mozzarella and provolone cheese.

Step-by-step instructions

The first thing you’ll do to make this easy baked ziti, is cook the pasta until al dente. The back of the pasta package should have the instructions for how long to cook the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, you’ll make the sausage (don’t forget to preheat the oven). Add the sausage and garlic to pan and cook until browned. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of grease, then add in the crushed tomatoes, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream and herbs. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat pasta.

Now it’s time to layer the pasta and bake it. You’ll add half the pasta to a baking dish, layer with half the cheese, then add the remaining pasta and remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling, roughly 15 minutes. After letting it cool a few minutes, all that’s left to do, is dive in and enjoy this easy baked ziti!

Here are a few other easy dinner recipes

• Beef Stew Hand Pies
• Upside Down Puff Pastry Tacos
• Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta

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