Baked Ziti Recipe
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A comforting Italian Casserole, this Baked Ziti Recipe uses pasta, sausage, spaghetti sauce, and three types of cheese. A great weeknight casserole the whole family will love!
Author:
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 1 lb rigatoni, cooked to aldente
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb Italian sausage
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 (14.5) ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅛-1/4 tsp ground pepper
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
  • 1 (15 oz) tub of Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 2-3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
  • Parsley flakes for garnish, optional
Instructions
  1. Multi-task prep by getting the water boiling for the noodles while you prepare the sauce. (Don't forget to salt the pasta water.)
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. In a large non-stick skillet add the olive oil, sausage, onions, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onions are tender.
  4. Add the diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, brown sugar, dried basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir together and let simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. In a glass 9x13 baking dish take a little less than half of the sauce and put it in the bottom of the pan. Use half of the ricotta cheese and dollop it evenly over the sauce. Sprinkle half a cup of parmesan cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella over the ricotta cheese.
  6. Next, take about 1 cup of the sauce and add it to the cooked and drained rigatoni noodles. Stir together until noodles have a thick coating, and then pour them on top of the sauce cheese layer.
  7. Repeat the sauce and cheese layers on top of the noodles with the remaining sauce, ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese.
  8. Sprinkle with parsley flakes and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
  9. Enjoy!
Recipe by Real Life Dinner at https://reallifedinner.com/baked-ziti-recipe/