In case you have never tried it, the baked ziti pioneer woman is one comfort food that is also easy to make. At a glance, it’s similar to lasagna, but with less layering to do. And the best part is, you can cook the pasta the day before and keep it in the fridge.
Baked Ziti Pioneer Woman
Baked Ziti Pioneer Woman with Ricotta Cheese. The recipe calls for several types of cheese from gooey Mozzarella to salty Parmesan to the creamy Ricotta. In case you don’t have Ricotta available, you can always swap it with cottage cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 tub of ricotta cheese
- ½ cup of parmesan cheese grated
- 1 and ½ pounds of grated mozzarella
- 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning
- Salt and ground pepper
- 1 pound of ziti you also can use mostaccioli
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic minced.
- 2 cans of tomato or marinara sauce 14 oz. each
- 1 large can of whole tomatoes with tomato juice 28 oz.
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 pound of Italian sausage.
- 1 egg
- Chopped parsley
Instructions
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Start by heating the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add minced garlic and diced onion until they are a bit soft. Then add ground beef and Italian sausage and cook until they are brown. Drain most of the fat before you add tomatoes with their juice.
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Continue adding the flavors to the meat by adding tomato sauce (or marinara sauce), salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Let the sauce simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Then turn off the heat and transfer about three to four cups of the sauce to a different bowl.
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Preheat your oven to 375oF and start cooking the ziti. Boil the water in a large pot, add salt generously, and cook the pasta in the pot until it’s almost al dente. When it’s done, drain and rinse the pasta before you let it cool.
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Use a large bowl to mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Don’t be too vigorous in mixing them since you will want to keep the ricotta’s texture stand out.
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Start transferring the ziti to the ricotta mix. Again, you don’t want to be too vigorous to keep all of the texture. Then pour the cooled sauce into the ziti and cheese mix. You may want to start pouring per cup to see how meaty you want it to be.
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Pour half of the coated ziti into a large casserole dish, and spread it evenly before you add more sauce on top of the pasta. Top the layer with mozzarella and start another layer of pasta, sauce, and mozzarella.
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When it’s ready, you can put it in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You can tell it’s ready when you see the mozzarella starts bubbling and getting brown a bit.
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Let the baked pasta rest for about 5 minutes before you bring it to the table. Oh, and don’t forget to add chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
You need to ensure the sauce and pasta are cool thoroughly before you add them to the cheese mix. Else, you may cook the egg and end up with a cheesy scrambled egg. And if you’re busy, you can make the ziti mix one day ahead.
However, you need to add at least fifteen minutes of baking time since it’s directly from the fridge. As you can see, this baked ziti pioneer woman with sausage and cheese is very easy to make. You have no reason to not try making this at least once.
However, you need to add at least fifteen minutes of baking time since it’s directly from the fridge. As you can see, this baked ziti pioneer woman with sausage and cheese is very easy to make. You have no reason to not try making this at least once.
