Baked Ziti
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love Baked Ziti! I make this recipe when I need to serve a crowd, for friends who have recently had babies, or whenever I need a hearty bowl of comfort food! I almost always have all the ingredients I need to make this dish in my fridge and pantry so it is easy to throw together whenever I need it.
Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
36 oz jar of your favorite
spaghetti sauce
1 lb box penne pasta, cooked and drained
15 oz container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup and 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp dried basil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Mix half of the pasta with 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish. Mix ricotta, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella and basil together in a bowl. Evenly spoon the cheese mixture over the noodles.
3. Mix the remaining pasta with 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce and layer the noodles on top of the cheese mixutre. Top with remaining sauce, then mozzarella cheese and 2 T of Parmesan cheese.
4. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30-35 min. Uncover and finish baking until cheese is melted and bubbly.
My daughter’s 9th baithdry was last weekend and I needed to serve a housefull. I was craving some really good baked ziti so I searched google for baked ziti with little meatballs trying to find a recipe from Giada on the Food Network that I had previously made. But, your blog came up instead. The recipe looked great so I gave it a shot. Your baked ziti blew Giada’s away delicious!!! The meatballs were perfect. I had almost no left overs which I was thrilled about because I love when people enjoy my cooking, but sad because I could have eaten this for days and only had maybe a bowl left. There is nothing like food made with love. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes and love stories with them. I look forward to cooking my way down the list. Baked Chicken in Wine is on the menu for tomorrow. Can’t wait!