Baked Ziti
This is a dish I make a lot because like almost everything I post here it’s easy, cheap, fast and makes the house smell unbelievable. You’ll think you’re in Italy. And my 4 year old loves it, which is important. You can add sausage which has been rendered, shredded chicken, meatballs, or whatever meat you like, too. But I like the vegetarian version and sometimes add a few handfuls of steamed, seasoned broccoli florets before baking.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 3+ cloves of garlic
- 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 box ziti pasta
- 4-5 fresh basil leaves
- 1 tsp dried Oregano
- Kosher S & P to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Start water for pasta to boil.
- Pour about 2 TB of olive oil in large saute pan and add garlic and saute until soft, about 1 minute
- Add crushed tomatoes, salt & pepper and oregano and basil, chiffonaded, simmer for 10+ minutes
- Cook pasta until al dente. Drain.
- Add Tomatoes to pasta.
- Oil 3 qt baking dish. Add tomato sauce/pasta just to cover the bottom of the pan. Add a healthy layer of cheese. Repeat until the last layer is cheese. You can also top with parmesan.
- Spray foil with cooking spray and cover. Cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes until the top is browned and bubbly.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
