Easy Baked Ziti

Submitted by Plastic Chef

"This recipe for baked ziti will have everyone begging you for more, and the best part, its quick and easy to make. I have a big family with big appetites, so this recipe makes big portion sizes. I use this recipe every time I make baked ziti, which is my favorite dish of all."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 16 ounces ziti pasta
• 32 ounces ricotta cheese
• 6 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 16 ounces pasta sauce

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Boil ziti, following the package directions.
3. Drain the ziti and place in a large bowl.
4. Mix all the ricotta cheese with the ziti.
5. Mix half of the mozzarella cheese with the ziti.
6. Spray a large pan (larger than 13x9) with cooking spray.
7. Cover the bottom half of the pan with half the pasta sauce.
8. Put the ziti mixture on top of the sauce.
9. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the ziti.
10. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
11. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and it is lightly golden.

Reviews

[Kavack K.]

Recipe is good but only if you double the amount of pasta sauce. You need at least 32 oz otherwise its just a big ricotta chesse fest and a bit dry. If you double the pasta sauce (we use Newmans Sockaroni) its really good.

 

[Jillian B.]

This recipe was SO simple and really tasted delicious! Glad I found it!

 

[NeoChef]

This recipe is "easy" but I can't say that I cared much for it as it was. Sooo...<br/>I browned up about 1/2 lb of lean ground pork to add a bit of protein value, and then added the sauce to it. Speaking of sauce, I like the Newman's Socarooni sauce.. but for a pound of pasta, two pounds or ricotta and a pound and a half of mozzarella.. a small jar of sauce simply wasn't enough to hold the balance.. so.. I doubled it. I also added a few good twists of black pepper, some crushed red pepper flake and some Italian-blend seasoning to the cheese mixture before assembling everything. I also took the cup and a half of cheese for the top and tossed it with a bit of Parmesan and a tablespoon and a half of olive oil (to eliminate the long stringing stretches of cheese when serving this beast.) before I layered it over the ziti and sauce. I increased the oven time to about 40 minutes to give the cheese a good brown and bubble character, and the second go at this dish turned out much better. My kids love it this way, so I'm not complaining.

 

[LI-Ray]

So easy and sooo good!!! I made exactly as written, except I added about 4oz more pasta sauce to the top, than called for (that's the was the kids like it). This is a keeper! Thanks Plasic Chef!!!

 

[Mrs Majors]

I tried this recipe for the first time while on vacation. I had only a few minutes in a WalMart to shop for everything I would need so this recipe looked like a winner. I halved the recipe and used whole wheat pasta which came in a smaller box than 16 oz. I purchased part skim ricotta - 16 oz. I also only purchased 2 cups of part skim mozzarella so I had to make do. For the pasta sauce, I used Paul Newman's Socarooni sauce. I served this with a caesar bag salad and tomatoes with fresh basil and some of the shredded mozzarella. This fed 4 people very well. Very easy - almost TOO easy to be as good as it was!