Baked Ziti with Sausage

Baked ziti is a classic baked pasta dish that is perfect for potlucks or group dinners, and is perfect when you want something fairly simple. I recently brought this recipe to a neighborhood party to rave reviews. It’s similar to a lasagna, with a meat sauce, pasta and layered blended cheese, and it’s delicious. Save yourself time by using jarred marinara tomato sauce – although of course if you have some homemade sauce on hand, by all means use it. But adding a bunch of fresh herbs to the dish helps bring in a certain freshness that elevates the whole dish. And one key factor that many people forget to do in baked ziti and lasagna alike is that they forget to add salt to the ricotta. The ricotta is typically fairly bland and needs a bit of salt and fresh herbs to help enhance the flavor.

Cooking the pasta

Start by boiling water in a large pot. Once it’s at a rolling boil, add in salt and the ziti. Cook until slightly under cooked (~8 minutes). You want it just under al dente (aka a bit too chewy to eat) because it’ll finish cooking in the oven with the sauce. I find that if I cook the pasta all the way, it gets just a tad too soggy for my taste. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Prepare the sauce

In a large pot, saute garlic and onion with olive oil. I bought a park sausage mixture from Whole Foods (opting for 1/2 lb of mild and 1/2 lb of hot) that came without any casings, but if you buy premade sausages, be sure to remove the meat from the casings first. Add in the sausage and cook until browned. Drain off most of the fat, but reserve about a tablespoon for flavor and moisture. Add in the marinara sauce, along with all of the aromatics – fresh basil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer on the stove for the flavors to meld.

Mix the cheeses

As the sauce simmers, prepare the cheeses. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, parsley, eggs, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 2 cups of the shredded Italian blend cheese. You’ll want to reserve some of the Italian blend cheese for topping the ziti with after it bakes. Mix the cheese, eggs, and herbs together until loosely combined – do not overmix as it can get too dense.

Assemble the pasta

Fold pasta into cheese mixture. In a greased 13 x 9 x 2” baking dish, spread about one-third of the meat sauce on the bottom. Layer half of the pasta mixture on top, followed by another one-third of the meat sauce. Repeat layers, with the remaining meat sauce covering the top.

Bake the ziti

Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake for about 15 minutes until fully heated through. Uncover, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and then bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese melts and is bubbly. You can then sprinkle with some extra basil and parsley and serve!

I wish I had a better photo of the final result, but I was in a rush to get the baked ziti to the party and didn’t want to dig in and ruin the casserole. I also ended up sprinkling some fresh chopped basil and parsley on top before leaving as well. But its delicious regardless, I promise! It’s a simple, comforting dish guaranteed to be a hit at any dinner or potluck.