give me your BEST baked ziti recipe.

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Re: give me your BEST baked ziti recipe.

Best and easy:

Cook one pound of rigatoni pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Brown one pound of ground beef in frying pan and drain.

Dump the ground beef in the pot with the rigatoni. Add one jar of pasta sauce (I really like the Rinaldi Original), one 8oz bag of shredded mozzerella cheese, one 15oz container ricotta cheese. Mix it all up, and put it all in a 13x9 baking pan. Top with a little more mozzarella and sauce, maybe a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, cover, and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Re: give me your BEST baked ziti recipe.

1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
garlic
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 cup sour cream
1 cup ricotta

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 garlic, 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, ricotta, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. COVER
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Re: give me your BEST baked ziti recipe.

A little more labor intensive, but I like to make my own sauce (for ziti, it's usually pretty basic. A few cans of crushed tomatoes (or fresh crushed tomatoes), 2-3 cans of tomato paste (for a big pot of sauce that will last a while). Grill up some onions and garlic (usually 1 onion and 4-6 cloves of garlic chopped up) while bringing the tomatoes to a boil. Once brown I dump them into the sauce along with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, fresh oregano and chopped basil, a little thyme. After boiling, lower to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours.

Once it's on for a couple of hours, I preheat the oven to 350 take a container of ricotta (I think the 2lb?), and mix in 3/4 block of shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded romano or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/8 cup chopped fresh basil
3 eggs
1/4 tsp of nutmeg

Mix the cheese in with the cooked ziti (one box, though I often have leftover cheese and can make more) and a good amount of sauce. once it's thoroughly mixed, add plenty of sauce on top and the remaining mozzarella. Bake for 35-45 minutes covered with tin foil, then uncover for the last 10 minutes.

It's incredibly creamy and delish :)

Message edited 7/2/2011 6:15:14 PM.