Baked Ziti
Hello!
I have an embarrassing confession. Yesterday I went to a bread making class and today my forearms are SORE from having to roll out dough. Looks like I need to get back to the gym, but how would I even work out my forearm muscles? Probably by making more bread which I will definitely be doing since it's so easy!
These days, I'm all about making food that's easy but still delicious, especially after a long day. I had some friends over for dinner earlier this week and decided to make a big batch of baked ziti (RIP Keto) because it's easy, affordable, and who doesn't love a warm plate of cheese, sauce, and pasta?!
The first time I had this was almost 4 years ago when I was at a friends apartment for a Halloween movie night and we were planning on waking up and doing a 5k the next day. There were a bunch of girls sleeping over and since we all were ballin' on a budget, this was perfect. That night I learned two things - my friend Astrid can make a mean baked ziti, and two if your friends give you a drink with ice in it and say it's a shot, it's definitely not a shot and will judge you for taking it as one. But shout out to Astrid for showing me the way, truth, and light of baked pasta.
I've been playing around with some homemade tomato sauce recipes, but honestly anything from the store works just as good and makes less of a mess for you to clean up. I just wanted to go all in for this dinner party, so I tried to make everything from scratch that I could. This is a quick and easy weeknight meal that can be dressed up as much as you'd like! I can't wait to try out other flavors of baked pasta dishes this fall and winter!
Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
1 lb Ziti pasta, cooked to al dente
32 oz Pasta Sauce of your choice
3 Tbsp Dry Italian Spice Blend
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Sprigs Oregano
2 Springs Basil
32 oz Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
1 lb Pork Sausage, cooked and drained
4 oz Grated Parmesan Cheese
8 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, extra for top if desired
Salt & Pepper
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350-degrees with a rack on a lower middle shelf.
In a 6 quart or larger dutch oven, bring heavily salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, and drain the rest of the pasta. Do not rinse and set aside. In the same dutch oven, warm the pasta sauce until just bubbling, add spices and herbs in and let cook for 3-5 minutes. Shut heat off, add in the cheese and pork. Stir until combined. Add in pasta, once again stirring until well mixed. Place in oven covered for 20-25 minutes until everything is bubbling together. If you had extra cheese and want a nice golden top, sprinkle the extra cheese on and put under the broiler for a few minutes. Remove from oven, let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve With:
Caesar Salad
Garlic Bread
Big glasses of a nice Cabernet
Happy Eating!