Baked Ziti
Ingredients
Baked Ziti:
- 1 - 1 1/2 lb part skim or whole milk ricotta 1 1/2 lbs makes it creamier and whole milk makes it creamier
- 1/2-1 cup diced mozzarella more or less depending on taste
- 1 egg
- Parmigiana reggiano for sprinkling
- Tomato sauce recipe below
- 1 12 oz box gluten-free penne
Tomato Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 Garlic cloves minced
- 1 6 oz Plain tomato paste we tend to use Muir Glen tomato paste -- be sure to use plain, not seasoned
- 1 Tomato purée or strained tomatoes we use Pomi Strained Tomatoes, 26.46oz
- 1 - 2 tablespoons dried basil I use approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons
- Salt to taste I tend not to use
- Pepper to taste I use approximately 1/4 teaspoon
Instructions
Baked Ziti:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta until al dente, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water & drain.
- Meanwhile in a big bowl mix ricotta & egg. A tablespoon at time, add hot salted pasta water to make creamier and get desired texture-- I usually end up using about 1/4 cup pasta water.
- Add cooked pasta & several large spoonfuls of sauce and mix well.
- Add in mozzarella and a sprinkle of parmesan.
- Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with sauce and transfer pasta mixture to dish.
- Cover with sauce to taste.
- Sprinkle liberally with parmigiana reggiano.
- Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until bubbly around the edges. Pro tip: At 20 minutes, cover with foil if you don't want a crisp top.
- Place extra sauce in a bowl for serving .
Tomato Sauce:
- Heat olive oil under medium heat
- Sauté garlic until just starting to brown
- Add tomato paste & stir in with olive oil
- Add tomato puree & stir together (If you want to make more or less, stick with ratio of 1 paste:1 puree)
- Add 1 cup of water or more till desired thickness (pro tip, fill the tomato puree box or can with water and swirl to get all the tomatoes out at the same time)
- Add lots of dried basil (I use approx 1 1/2 tablespoons)
- Add pepper to taste (I use approx 1/4 teaspoon)
- Add salt to taste (I tend not to use)
- Simmer for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better
- Add water as needed
- Save any extra sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for another day.
If I just wanted to used bottled pasta sauce, how much would I use?