How to Make Baked Ziti

The moment someone mentions Italian food, I picture a sumptuous cheesy, creamy meal, that will leave a lingering smile on the faces of many. The best part about Italian meals is that if you modify these dishes a little to your own taste, it only keeps getting better. That is why we all just love Italian cuisine. Baked ziti is also a sort of modified Italian American casserole that is 'Oh so easy to make!' and please your palates.

Here are a few simple recipes with or without a few ingredients but yes it has different types of cheese. So let us begin!

Baked Ziti with Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients

• Packet of ziti 16-oz
• Two teaspoons of virgin olive oil
• Pasta sauce, 28 oz
• One egg
• One cup of ricotta cheese
• Grated parmesan cheese 1/4th cup
• Mozzarella cheese 6-oz

Method

The oven should be preheated to 350 degrees. Boil the ziti separately in a bowl with a pinch of salt and some olive oil. Drain the excess water. Take another bowl mix this ziti with olive oil and coat it well with the oil. The baking dish must be coated with nonstick cooking spray. Add pasta sauce to the coated ziti and mix it well. Pour half of this into the baking dish. Beat an egg and add the ricotta, Parmesan cheese to it. Spread this mixture over the pasta in the baking dish and add half the mozzarella cheese. The remaining pasta is then to be added to the baking dish. After this top the dish with the remaining mozzarella. Bake this for 20 minutes and your ziti is ready to serve around six people. Well, if you want to make it without ricotta cheese, it's quite simple just use Parmesan!

Baked Ziti with Ground Beef

Ingredients

• A pound of ground beef (lean)
• One chopped bell pepper
• Half a cup of chopped onion
• A can of diced tomatoes
• A can of tomato sauce
• Half a teaspoon of dried basil leaf
• Half a teaspoon of oregano
• Half a teaspoon of garlic powder
• One and a half teaspoon of salt
• One-fourth of a teaspoon of pepper
• Ziti or elbow macaroni cooked and drained (8 ounces)
• Two cups of shredded mozzarella

Method

The beef has to be sautéed along with the onions and bell pepper till the onion is tender and the beef a light shade of brown. The fat that is leached out should be drained, after which you must add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix this well. Add the ziti and a cup of mozzarella; stir well and add this mix to the casserole. Add the remaining cheese to the casserole and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The dish serves six. If you want your ziti with sausage, just cook the sausage separately until brown and follow the same recipe.

Baked Ziti with Chicken

Ingredients

• Half a pound of ziti
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts- chop them into cubes
• A small zucchini
• One onion
• One red bell pepper-chopped
• 2 or three tomatoes diced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• Three sprigs of basil (fresh)
• Half a cup of white wine
• One-fourth pound of shredded fontina cheese
• One-fourth of a pound of provolone
• One-fourth of a pound of shredded asiago
• One teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper

Method

Cook the ziti as described earlier. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Cook the chicken breasts in this oil and season it with salt and pepper, till the chicken turns a little brown. Take out the chicken from the skillet and add the vegetables that is the onions, zucchini, bell peppers, cook until the vegetables become tender. Add the tomatoes, garlic and the pinch of crushed red pepper to the vegetables and cook for a little more time. Take the vegetables out in a bowl and add the wine to the skillet. De-glaze the skillet and allow the wine to reduce to half its quantity. To the cooked pasta or ziti add the chicken, vegetables, wine, basil along with 3/4th of the cheeses. Season this again with salt and pepper. Bake the dish at 400 degrees and bake for 15 minutes by covering it and another 15 minutes without the cover. This dish serves six people. The recipe for ziti with meat is the same with very little changes in the way they are cooked.

I hope these easy recipes have helped you. Baked ziti is Italian pasta modified to an American casserole. The ingredients may seem a bit too much, but as I said earlier, you can very easily modify the dish and reduce the types of cheese and also the vegetables to make it as per your requirement. Buon appetito!