Baked Ziti. Cook the ziti until not quite al dente. Toss the cooked pasta with the quick tomato sauce, cubed mozzarella, half the Parmesan, all of the black pepper and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Transfer the pasta to the prepared baking.

Baked Ziti is a classic baked pasta dish. It's basically some kind of tomato or meat sauce baked in a dish with some kind of cheese and, of course, ziti noodles—unless you're me, then you use mostaciolli noodles. Some people just use tomato/marinara sauce. You can have Baked Ziti using 12 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Baked Ziti

You need 2 lbs of penne pasta.
Prepare 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef.
Prepare 24 oz of tomato sauce.
Prepare 4 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese.
You need 4 cups of mozzarella cheese (shredded).
You need 1 cup of parmesan cheese.
Prepare 2 of eggs.
It's 4 tbsp of parsley.
You need 1 tbsp of salt.
Prepare 1 tsp of black pepper.
It's 1 tsp of oregano.
Prepare 1/4 cup of halved pepperoni slices (optional).

That, of course, would never fly in this house. Baked macaroni dishes like ziti combine cooked pasta with a sauce, vegetable, and/or meat -- and plenty of cheese. All the ingredients are layered or tossed into a casserole dish and baked in the oven for less than an hour. It's a versatile dish that can be adapted in so many ways, including adding leftovers.

Baked Ziti step by step

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Boil water. Add some salt (about 1 tbsp) to flavor the pasta as it cooks. Once it boils, add pasta and cook for 15 minutes. Once pasta is done cooking, mix in a bit of sauce to keep it from sticking..
Heat a pan at medium heat, add the beef and some water (maybe 2 cups or so). Brown the chopped meat. This will take about 10 minutes - you’ll know it’s done when the juice is clear..
Then drain it. Once the meat cools a bit, break it up into small pieces if it isn’t already..
Get a large foil roast pan and coat the bottom with about 1/4 cup of sauce..
In a large bowl, mix together the meat and all ingredients, except the cooked pasta. Leave a little bit of sauce to the side to drizzle over the top later..
After the meat, cheeses, eggs, and seasonings are mixed well, add the pasta and mix well again..
Put the ziti in the baking pan. Sprinkle some extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese (maybe 2 handfuls of each) over the top layer. Then drizzle the last of the sauce over top..
Cover the pan with foil and cook in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Then, take off the foil and cook for another 20 minutes or so..

Baked ziti can become dry for several reasons. When assembling the dish, be sure to cover the pasta with enough of the sauce so that the noodles don't dry out. Also, to prevent moisture from evaporating while cooking, cover the dish tightly with foil. What can I add to this recipe? Cook ziti according to package directions; drain; set aside.