Can you share your phenominal Baked Ziti recipe?

I want to make a full tray tonight with 1/2 meat and 1/2 plain.

Thanks!

Re: Can you share your phenominal Baked Ziti recipe?

I don't so much have a recipe as a 'method'

I mix the noodles with a little of the sauce and about a 1/4 of the cheeses (ricotta and chunks of mozzarella). Then I put a layer of sauce in the pan, a layer of the noodle mix, a layer of ricotta, a layer of meat, a layer of mozzarella and then top it with sauce. Repeat once and then add a final layer of just noodles, then sauce and mozzarella on top. I know it's kind of like a lasagna.. but it really works to make sure there lots of cheese and meat in every bite.

For the meat mixture I heat olive oil in a large pan, add chopped onion and garlic until softened and fragrant and then dump in about a half pound of ground beef AND I also squeeze out the filling from 4 sweet sausages and 2 or 3 hot sausages and brown it all up together. Add a little salt and pepper to taste and make sure it's good and crumbled for the layers as described above.

I usually add a little chopped parsley and basil to the finished and baked product for color and fragrance.

HTH!

Message edited 1/5/2010 5:59:35 PM.

Re: Can you share your phenominal Baked Ziti recipe?

This is a recipe I found on the internet that I love...

I think it is Rachel Ray's

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, (recommended: San Marzano)* If San Marzanos are not available, add a teaspoon sugar to your sauce, optional
Coarse salt
A handful fresh basil leaves, torn
1 pound ziti rigate, with ridges
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Freshly ground black pepper
A generous grating nutmeg
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup sliced fresh mozzarella
Crusty bread, to pass at table
Directions
Put pasta water on to boil.

In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, saute garlic in extra-virgin olive oil. Chop whole tomatoes and add them to the pan. Add crushed tomatoes and salt and simmer 10 minutes, add basil and simmer over low heat 10 minutes more.

Add salt and pasta to boiling water and cook 6 minutes, leaving pasta a little chewy.

While pasta cooks, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then cook 1 minute, adding salt and pepper and nutmeg to flour. Add milk and bring sauce to a bubble. Reduce 5 minutes.

Drain pasta and transfer to a large casserole dish. Pour the tomato and basil sauce over the pasta and turn to coat the pasta. Pour the bechamel over the already coated pasta. Cover the top of the pasta with Asiago, Parmesan and mozzarella. Place the casserole under hot broiler and melt the 3 cheeses until brown and bubbly, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately with Spinach and Artichoke Salad and bread.

Re: Can you share your phenominal Baked Ziti recipe?

1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese,
shredded 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted

Re: Can you share your phenominal Baked Ziti recipe?

The BEST... Grandma Rella's famous baked ziti recipe FROM Italy. This is my FIL's mother who is from Bari and this recipe is the shiiiiit... and NOT hard!

Baked Ziti

-1 lb. pasta (I like buying fresh pasta from Uncle Giueseppe's but any Ziti works - Barilla is good)
-1/2 lb. mortadella (ask for it thinly sliced at any butcher)
-1/2 lb. Boar's Head ham (same thing - thinly sliced)
-1.5 lbs. fresh mozzarella cheese shredded
-3.5 cups grated parmasean cheese
-Equivilent of 1 jar of meat sauce -- we don't buy sauce in the jar, we make fresh but you can buy whatever you like in a regular sized jar and it's the same difference. i find that Uncle Giuseppe's homemade Bolognese Sauce is to die for for those who don't want to make their own sauce.

cube the cold cuts first -- cube mortadella and ham. that way, you are all set. when you cut them, you slice the cold cuts how they come - all in a block, sliced. cut long ways - so there are strips and then cut going across. the mortadella and ham pieces should be about the size of a postage stamp when you are done cutting. i take it right out of the package from the butcher and slice with a sharp knife. then, i'll separate them as they stick together and put them in a bowl and leave it on the side.

cook pasta - when done and strained mix in a little bit of sauce so that the pasta doesn't stick together. i would say about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sauce - depending on how much you like. make sure the pasta is al-dente! very chewy because if you over cook it then when it bakes in the oven it will get mushy.

in a standard lasagna pan (about 13x9) and about four inches deep... put half of the pasta in the pan - nice and flat in order to layer, then put a little more than half of the cold cuts (spread evenly), and the first 3/4 lb of the mozzarella cheese - evenly spread.

sprinkle three cups of the grated cheese -- evenly -- it should be a thin film of grated cheese.

then, add the rest of the pasta on top of that! then, the rest of the cold cuts. top off with the rest of the mozzarella (so, the other half pound) and half a cup of the parm grated cheese -- all evenly distributed. you can add some extra sauce at ANY point before topping it off - it depends on how much sauce you want. then, what i do is i save the rest of the sauce on the SIDE and people spoon it on when they eat it. b/c everyone is different. i top off with some ground black pepper and parsley flakes.

bake at 350 degrees for about 30-32 minutes -- at the end, i switch it over to broil (a feature on your oven) for about the last 5 minutes to get those golden brown crispy edges and top!!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!