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A close-up of Melissa Jo's Baked Ziti being lifted with a spoon, showing gooey, melted cheese stretching from the dish below. The pasta is coated in tomato sauce with visible herbs and creamy ricotta.
Melissa Jo

Melissa Jo’s Baked Ziti Recipe

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My baked ziti is a sure crowd pleaser and the perfect dish for Easter, Mother's Day, or Father's Day! It's so unbelievably delicious and you just have to layer with love and use the same ingredients I mention in the tips and tricks! The right mozzarella and Pecorino Romano make all of the difference! I can't wait for you to try this for your next holiday! Cheesy and savory and you have to MAKE IT!!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Calories: 628

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb. ziti pasta
  • 1.25 qts homemade sauce or Rao's tomato basil sauce
  • 32 oz. Ricotta
  • 14 oz. Polly-O mozzarella cut into little one inch cubes
  • cracked black pepper and salt
  • 3/4 cup Locatelli Pecorino Romano grated
  • fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Method
 

  1. Heavily salt a large pot of boiling water and add 1 lb of ziti. Cook until al dente.
  2. In a mixing bowl add Ricotta, 1/2 cup of grated Pecorino Romano cheese, about 5 oz. of mozzarella chopped into 1 inch cubes, 2 ladle fulls of homemade sauce (about 1 cup), plenty of cracked black pepper , and about 1 tsp. of kosher salt.
  3. Mix the ingredients in the bowl. The result should be a pink color after mixing. If it's too white...add a little more sauce.
  4. Then, add the cooked ziti into the bowl and mix all together.
  5. In a casserole dish I used: 15.25 x 9.87 x 6.50 Inches (LxWxH) layer in this order:
  6. enough sauce to cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer
  7. half of the ziti mixture
  8. cubed mozzarella
  9. Pecorino Romano
  10. cracked black pepper
  11. fresh parsley
  12. rest of the ziti mixture
  13. more cubed up mozzarella
  14. more grated Pecorino Romano
  15. more sauce (about 2 ladle fulls) thick layer
  16. rest of the cubed mozzarella
  17. grated pecorino romano
  18. cracked black pepper
  19. and fresh chopped Italian salt leaf parsley
  20. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.; then uncover and bake another 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. or until browned and bubbly! (about 1 hour total cooking time)
  21. Cool the baked ziti a 1/2 hour before serving! It will set up and become firmer!

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Nutrition

Calories: 628kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 36gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 1223mgPotassium: 730mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1519IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 618mgIron: 3mg

Notes

  • The trick to the best baked ziti is layering! AND the right ingredients. For the mozzarella I use Polly-O and whole milk (not skim). Similarly, I use Polly-O Ricotta. I use Locatelli Pecorino Romano in this dish! If you buy those ingredients you will get the same result.
  • Serve with: Serve with crusty Italian bread, thin spaghetti or linguini,  &  a simple garden salad with Italian dressing
  • Cool the baked ziti a 1/2  hour before serving!It will set up and become firmer!
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