How to Make Cheesy Baked Ziti | You Can Cook That | Allrecipes.com

creamy cheesy and downright delicious i've got another family favorite pasta dish from my italian roots to your table let's make baked ziti i'm going to start by making the sauce i'm going to chop up some onion a little bit of garlic and then i am using a shortcut with some store-bought jarred marinara this is just gonna shorten your cooking time i've got a large deep skillet or saucepan heated up i'm gonna add in my meat first what i like to do since i'm not using the whole package of each is just take off what i'm not using and freeze it together and then i use it next time i'm making meatballs or meatloaf and you want some browning to occur so we don't want to stir it too much just going to kind of break it up and let it get good and browned i'm using a lean sirloin for my beef so it's not going to have a ton of fat that we really need to drain out we'll just use that fat to cook our onions and garlic once that gets going you'll also want to bring a pot of water to the boil for our pasta when your pasta water is boiling of course we're going to salt it then i'm using a whole pound of ziti because it is called baisi tea but you could also use a penne or a rigatoni that works too and then you want to cook this until it's al dente it's going to cook further after we add the sauce and put it in the casserole dish so like i've done for lasagna or mac and cheese i like to go slightly under the instructions for al dente this calls for 10 minutes al dente i'm gonna do about eight don't oil your pasta water that's a whole another story if you put that barrier with oil on there the sauce is gonna slip right off your pasta is not gonna stick as long as you stir it once you add it to the boiling water for more tips follow me on instagram once your beef and sausage have pretty much browned we're gonna go in with our onions and garlic also a little crushed red pepper salt and pepper cook this for about three to five minutes until the onion has softened and then we just add in our sauce let it simmer for about 10 minutes and your sauce is done after you've drained your pasta don't run a bunch of cold water over it and rinse off all those starches just take some of your sauce and toss your pasta in it that'll keep it from sticking while we wait on everything else to come together our meat and onions are done i'm going to add in our jars of sauce don't worry about the little browning that has occurred in the pan that's just flavor and this is going to help release all that also you're going to add about a quarter cup of water to each jar shake it up and pour it in you know you got to get every last bit out lifts right off that's it this is going to cook for just about 10 minutes just to kind of marry all those flavors together i made my cheesy layer similar to how i do for lasagna so that is going to be ricotta cheese with an egg a little bit of grated parmesan season it up with a little salt and pepper and then i like to freshen it up with a little bit of parsley and fresh basil also combined in the cheesy layer is mozzarella of course and you know i like to use the block over the pre-shredded when you can in an eight ounce bag of shredded munch you get two cups a block of eight ounce for the same price is going to yield you about another cup prep is done now it's time to layer it up and bake it up for the layering i use a 9x13 lightly coat the sides with some cooking spray we're going to go down with about half a cup of sauce in the bottom and we're gonna take about two cups of our meat sauce and toss it with our pasta then we add half of that pasta mixture right on top of that little bit of sauce now down with the ricotta so i like to just kind of spoon it in big globs over that first layer of pasta and then just spread it out a little bit then sprinkle about a cup to a cup and a half of your mozzarella then end with the rest of your pasta mixture in your remaining sauce the sauce is going to get in there with that creamy cheese and it just kind of you know makes something magical all right and then we're going to top it with the rest of our mozzarella and then a little more grated parmesan if you want to make this ahead of time you can stop right here let it cool and then just wrap it up you can freeze it or just refrigerate it for a couple days this goes in at 375 degrees it's all warm and cooked at this point so this is not going to take more than probably half an hour at the most if you did this ahead of time and refrigerated it you're going to need to probably double that cook time at least look at this bubbly goodness it smells so good it looks so hearty and perfect it is best if you will let it sit for about 10 minutes and i grab a little caesar salad because that sounds good and dinner is served look how gooey and cheesy this is it's got a little bit of the crust on top super saucy a little basil to make it fancy it's like magic happens when you combine just some simple ingredients into one easy meal why is it so good i love the way the sauce is absorbed into the pasta this is not your typical baked ziti this is not something you're just gonna pick up from you know the grab-and-go casserole place this one has love in it and you can taste it no matter what the occasion i hope you'll give this baked ziti recipe a try and when you do tag me i love hearing from you and i want to know what you want me to teach you how to make next see you next time she's good [Music] you

Channel: Allrecipes

Views: 53,214

Keywords: allrecipes, allrecipes.com, recipe, recipes, food, cooking, kitchen, how to, how to make, cheesy, baked, ziti, pasta, baked ziti, cheesy baked ziti, how to make baked ziti, pasta dish, dinner, dinner recipe, easy bake ziti, cheesy pasta, pasta sauce, homemade pasta sauce, meat sauce, beef, italian, baked ziti recipe, ziti recipe, pasta recipe, easy baked ziti, dinner recipes, pasta recipes, baked pasta, comfort food, easy pasta recipes

Id: uV92qpSSY9Y

Length: 6min 8sec (368 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 19 2022