Looking for a delicious vegetable side to serve with this pasta? My Roasted Parmesan Broccoli with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Garlic and Chillies will round off your Italian dinner nicely! Pasta dinners are extremely popular in my house while baked pasta dinners trump regular pasta by a mile. Why? I am not entirely sure but my bet would be on that golden melty cheese that covers the pasta like a delicious blanket. Whenever I make pasta bakes I find kids in the sweetest mood and on their best behavior. Anyone else can relate?
How to Make Easy Baked Ziti
Baked Ziti is a dish many of us grew up eating. It’s an Italian American classic that is hard to argue with. It’s that delicious, comfort food that we associate with homemade cooking. In so many ways baked ziti is very similar to lasagna but of course it’s not layered and we use ziti pasta not lasagna sheets! The classic recipe will feature ziti pasta drenched in a meaty pasta sauce made with tomatoes, garlic and Italian herbs like basil and oregano. Ricotta is either dolloped on top or a thinner sauce drizzled over. My recipe is the one without ricotta as a personal preference. The recipe I am sharing today is a simplified version
I cook a pound of ground beef with dried oregano, fresh basil and garlic, then add a mix of canned diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes or tomato passata and simmer until the flavours are melded together. Then I combine the meat sauce with slightly undercooked ziti, top with fresh mozzarella and bake for 25 minutes. Undercooking your pasta slightly will ensure the pasta doesn’t get too soft when baked. As you notice, I skipped ricotta entirely. Instead I used fresh mozzarella that provides a similar creaminess ricotta gives to the dish. However, regular mozzarella will also work.
Other pasta shapes
As much as it is popular and abundant in the US, I found it impossible to source ziti pasta in the UK. I actually had to buy it in Italy on our recent trip. Then I also had to watch it like a hawk because my kids kept trying to use it for lunch over their Christmas break. Good news is no trip to Italy is necessary. Any short tubular pasta will do. If you can’t find ziti, you can use rigatoni or even penne. Gluten free pasta is also a great substitute here. The taste will remain the same.
Serving suggestions
You can always brighten up your baked pasta with some salads like this Warm Zucchini Salad . What I found was a delicious combination is topping my baked ziti with fresh cherry tomatoes tossed with a small amount extra virgin olive oil and flavoured with fresh basil and garlic, then sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. This little extra that takes your regular pasta bake to the best baked ziti ever! Simple yet very effective.
More favourite baked pasta recipes
Sausage Pasta Bake Brie and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella and Meat Sauce Pasta al Forno
