Baked Ziti

From Food Network Kitchens

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (39)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(39)

Cook Time:
40 min
Level:
--
Yield:
about 6 to 8 main course servi

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 40 min
Total:: 50 min

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Ingredients

1 pound dried ziti pasta
Kosher salt
3 1/2 cups QUICK MARINARA SAUCE, recipe follows
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano
1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper or to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain.

In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the pecorino, and the cubed mozzarella pieces. Season with the black pepper and red pepper to taste, and mix until well combined. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

QUICK MARINARA SAUCE
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly chopped
Sprig of fresh thyme
Sprig of fresh basil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper to taste. Use now, or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Yield: about 3 1/2 cups.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Baked Ziti
D NAZARETH, PA 12-31-2009
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Easy, but nothing special
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

This recipe is super easy and great for those who don't like your typical ziti with ricotta, but it is definitely missing the... richness. The mozzarella gets lost and you can barely taste the other cheeses in the dish. After 30 of baking, it seems like it is almost overdone...the pasta and mozzarella start to harden. The sauce is really good, however, but you must cut back on the amount of salt called for.Read more
recipe Baked Ziti
Heidi Mission Viejo, CA 09-21-2009
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Quick, tasty, filling but missing something...
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I love baked pasta. The crunchy tips that brown on the top with all the melted cheese are so tasty. The sauce was super... easy to make but tasted too salty. Once mixed in the huge dish of pasta it was fine but I doubt using this sauce on a small bowl of pasta would be any good - if you were thinking of making extra to keep in the fridge. Anyway, the best part of the dish was the fresh mozzarella. I would use half again as much of this and/or add some ricotta as other reviews have suggested. Overall it just seemed like it lacked something. I think if the sauce was heartier it would be better. My kids loved it so I may make it again but for now I'll be looking for another recipe for baked ziti to try... Read more
recipe Baked Ziti
Elana vienna, VA 09-13-2009
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Easy but not not my favorite
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

The baked ziti was pretty easy to make. But there was nothing that wowed me about it. The store didn't have peeled tomatoes... in puree so I used crushed tomatoes. Everything else was as in the recipe. I found it difficult to cut the fresh mozzarella thin enough to cover the whole dish (don't know if t was supposed to but it would have been nice). Somebody suggested more sauce and I would like to second that opinion. More sauce and a higher proportion of garlic and onions would probably have made it better. As it was I added a few extra garlic cloves. Read more
recipe Baked Ziti
A.K. Fenton, MO 09-01-2009
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Easy, quick and family-friendly
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Was this a gourmet meal? No, but it was tasty, easy to fix with very common pantry and fridge ingredients and even my... pickiest kid asked for seconds. It's the first time in a while that a meal made everyone happy and all plates were emptied. That alone earns five stars from me. I did change the recipe for what I had handy. I used shredded mozz instead of sliced/cubed and I switched the pecorino for asiago. I will definitely make this again, it's a great base recipe to experiment with.Read more
recipe Baked Ziti
B Lebanon, NH 08-06-2009
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I love this recipe!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made this for my family and everyone loved it. Actually after a few times I played around with it and found that the key... was to sprinkle Oreo crumbs on top. I know it sounds disgusting but it is simply delicious!Read more
recipe Baked Ziti
Michelle Ashburn, VA 06-30-2009
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Double the Sauce!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I doubled the sauce, because I wanted to freeze some to use later. However, I ended up needing all of it for the ziti. I... can't imagine this being as good with less sauce. I thought this was ok, but my husband loved it! I'll be making this again. Read more