Baked Ziti

A few months ago I made baked ziti for the first time in a long time. I just cleaned off my desk and found the recipe that I wrote down so here it is. I based my sauce on my Grandma Filomena's bolognese sauce recipe that can be found with the lasagna recipe I posted previously, but the recipe below is changed to how I make my sauce. I used homemade ricotta for this, which made it taste even better. I made this in my Le Creuset 5.25-Quart Signature Rectangular Roaster, but it can be made in any lasagna or roasting pan. This is a great meal to make a day ahead and refrigerate until it's time to bake it, or you can make parts of it ahead of time (make the ricotta one day, then make the sauce and boil the pasta and assemble and cook the next day). You can even make this ahead of time and freeze it to bake later, which is great for holidays and dinner parties. It's also a great meal to give to someone in need of a meal for their family, since you can make it in a disposable lasagna pan. My family is small with two young eaters, so I could even split this into two 8x8 pans and freeze one for later instead of making it in a 9x13 pan. We ended up just eating it for leftovers for a few nights, which was fine with me!

The photos below are not the best, but this was delicious! Hopefully the next time I make it I'll get better pictures with my camera to post, but for now, enjoy this recipe which makes a perfect meal during these cold winter months.

Baked Ziti

 

Bolognese Sauce: 

 

2 Tablespoons bacon drippings or olive oil

1 small whole onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 pound ground beef (chuck, sirloin, round)

or ½ pound ground beef and ½ pound ground pork sausage

28-ounce Hunts Italian or Whole Tomatoes – blend in blender until smooth

6-ounce can Hunts Tomato paste

1 6-ounce can of water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Red wine (6-ounces or as much as you like)

Fresh basil

Fresh parsley

 

Sauté onion and garlic and brown ground meat in saucepan with olive oil. Add tomatoes that have been blended with fresh basil until smooth (or you can use a 28-ounce can of tomato sauce instead). Add salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes. Add tomato paste and water. Add red wine and continue cooking slowly for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. Add chopped fresh parsley once the sauce is done cooking.

 

Ricotta Mixture:

 

Mix together:

2 pounds Ricotta cheese

2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Parmesan or Romano grated cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten – increase number of eggs if ricotta is very dry

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley, chopped

 

Add shredded mozzarella, grated cheese, lightly beaten egg, salt and pepper, and parsley to ricotta.

 

Pasta:

 

1 pound Ziti pasta – cook according to package directions until al dente

 

13” x 9” Lasagna Pan: You can either layer the sauce, ziti and ricotta mixture or you can add it all to the pan and mix it up in the pan. I add sauce, ziti, ricotta mixture, sauce – and then mix it up and top with another layer of sauce and grated cheese.

 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375° for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover the last 10 minutes of baking.

 

If freezing baked ziti: Freeze before baking. When ready to use, thaw completely and bake approximately 15-20 minutes longer than if baking freshly made ziti.