Easy Baked Ziti with Ricotta (Freezer Friendly)
This dish is commonly known as baked ziti, but I used rigatoni because it has ridges to catch all of that delicious sauce! Most short pastas will work here, including rigatoni, ziti, or penne.
Ingredients
- 1 lb short pasta like ziti, penne, or rigatoni (I used rigatoni)
- 4 cups marinara sauce (this is about 1½ 24-oz jars)
- 1 lb uncooked Italian sausage (mild or hot)
- 2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- For garnish just before serving: fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, remove the casings from the sausage and place in a sauté pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring to break up the sausage, until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain the grease out of the pan.
- Add the marinara sauce to the pan with the sausage and stir to combine. Gently whisk in the ricotta cheese without fully incorporating it into the sauce, leaving some pockets of cheese. Add the pasta and stir gently to combine.
- Pour half the pasta mixture into a 9x13 inch pan OR 2 (8-inch) pans. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with the remaining pasta, followed by the remainder of the cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the filling is bubbly.
Notes
Freezer instructions:
If freezing any portion of this dish, proceed through step #4. Then cover the dish with plastic wrap and top the plastic wrap with aluminum foil. Label the dish with the contents and today’s date. When ready to serve, defrost the dish overnight in the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap and replace the foil. Bake for 30–40 minutes, taking the foil off for the last 10 minutes of cooking. If cooking from frozen, remove the plastic wrap and replace the foil. Bake from frozen for 50–60 minutes, taking the foil off for the last 10 minutes of cooking. The Simple Baked Ziti can be frozen for up to a month.
Nutrition
Calories: 481kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 29gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 1664mgPotassium: 807mgFiber: 2gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1262IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 349mgIron: 3mg
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