When I was growing up, we cooked and ate what I compassionately call Italian peasant food. What is that you say? It means that we use whatever ingredients we have on hand when we cook. My recipe for baked ziti is just that. I made calzones on Sunday, and I didn’t use all of the ingredients. I so hate to waste food —hence, Tuesday’s baked ziti.
Here’s what was leftover from the calzones: about one cup of browned crumbled Italian sausage, 2 cups of ricotta, an 8-ounce package of shredded mozzarella (already mixed in the ricotta), and 4-cups of home-made Pomodoro sauce. I buy pasta when it’s BOGO at Publix, so I had a box of ziti in the pantry. I also make this dish with rigatoni and penne (whatever I have at the time).
Putting it together is easy. Cook the pasta al dente and drain well. Return the pasta to the pot then add the cheese, sausage, and most of the sauce. Mix until the ingredients are blended. I line the bottom of the pan with a little of the sauce, then I pour the ziti mixture on top. Bake until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly. Every one loved the baked ziti except for my grand son, who told me I ruined the pasta by baking it. Sigh. He’s a tough critic.
Baked Ziti Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ziti
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 pound Italian sausage
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups pomodoro sauce
- salt pepper, granulated garlic
Instructions
- Cooke ziti al dente according to the directions on the package. Drain well and return to cooking pot or large bowl.
- Brown and crumble Italian sausage in olive oil. Drain excess oil.
- In a separate bowl, mix ricotta and mozzarella. Season with granulated garlic, salt, and pepper as desired.
- Add cheese and sausage to ziti and mix well. Add about 3 cups of sauce; mix.
- Add remaining sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch pan. Pour ziti mixture over sauce; smooth with spoon. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts and sauce is bubbly, about 30 minutes.
I shared this recipe at these awesome parties.
Nice recipe, I did’n,t know ziti is pasta.
I am celebrating my first blog anniversary, there is a event and a give away, please participate-
http://herbsspicesandtradition.blogspot.ca/2015/05/my-first-blog-anniversary-event.html
This is a comfort food for me and it was for my mother. Unlike me, she could have eaten that dish for days until it was all gone. I like a bit more variety so I only make enough for two days. 🙂 Yours looks just like the one my mother made.
Baked ziti definitely ranks right up there for me too. This looks delicious!
Thank you.
I love Baked Ziti, you’re making me hungry!
It looks delicious, especially because you baked it!!!
We love any sort of pasta bake in our house so this is perfect. Thank you for sharing at Merry Monday! Pinned.
Looks yummy! We must eat “peasant” food all the time here! LOL Stopping by from the What’s Making Your week Awesome hop. Hope you have a great weekend!
Yum, yum! I love baked pasta dishes! Thanks for sharing with Idea Box!
I LOVE baked ziti and this looks delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this on Making Memories Mondays! Hope to see you back Sun night 9PM EST! 🙂
Cathy
Kids really can be tough critics, Sherry 😉 I think your Baked Ziti looks wonderful. I adore baked pastas – they have such a great flavour. I love that this dish used up leftovers as well. We are all about sustainable living at the Hearth and Soul hop so thank you for sharing this one with us! Pinned, yummed and will tweet 🙂
Thank you!
Hello Gorgeous! This looks incredible! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm, so we can party with you! Lou Lou Girls
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday, I just pinned this recipe it looks so good! Hope you are having a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
I make a baked ziti and we love it. My recipe is a bit different. Yours looks super good as well! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
You always know how to make me feel hungry, thanks for sharing on #wednesdayswisdom
Love Ziti!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday!! Hope to see you tomorrow! Pinned!
Hi there, I remember going out to a mall in my hometown in Philippines on Sundays and our family would eat in small eatery..we always order Baked Ziti. I would love for you to link up this delicious recipe on Saturday Dishes. Our theme is POTLUCK. I think this is an awesome potluck recipe.
Here’s the link: http://www.abountifullove.com/2015/06/week-in-review-and-saturday-dishes.html
Hope to see you there! Have a great day!
Done!
oh man i have made baked ziti and was so sad it was so boring. this baked ziti has the flavor! nom nom! Adding your recipe for baked ziti to this weeks menue!
Hmm, looks so yummy, Sherry! What a quick and easy way to use leftovers by making a tasty and savory pasta dish!
Baked Ziti is one of my favorite pasta dishes. I love that you used what you had left over from making another dish. It looks tasty!
Baked ziti is one of my all time favorites, made even more so by how easy it is to make! I bet yours is especially delicious with your homemade sauce!
You make this baked Ziti look so very quick and easy. Yummy sauce and ingredients. Somehow leftovers always taste better.
My family loves pasta. This looks like it just could be a new family favorite.