Description
Time for a little Italian comfort food: Easy Baked Ziti Recipe. In this recipe, the Italian sausage and a little fresh basil provide all the flavor you need for this simple one-pan dinner!
Ingredients
Scale
- Boiling water
- 1 lb Ziti pasta
- Olive oil
- Salt
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage with fennel (no casings)
- 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 20 or more basil leaves, torn and divided
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cook the ziti past in boiling water according with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Remove from the heat about 3 minutes before the time indicated on the pasta package. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute the onions until translucent and slightly golden in color, then add the garlic and sausage. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is fully browned. Now add the canned tomatoes and half the basil leaves. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- Combine the pasta and 1/2 of the grated Parmesan cheese with only 1/2 the sauce (you will use the rest of the sauce shortly). If your skillet is not oven-safe, transfer the pasta to a baking dish and top with the remaining sauce and the mozzarella cheese slices.
- Bake the ziti pasta in the 350 degrees F heated-oven for 20-25 minutes. When ready, remove from the oven and add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and basil leaves. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can certainly replace the sausage with ground beef. Make sure you add your favorite Italian spices for flavor.
- If fresh mozzarella is not available to you, grated bagged mozzarella will certainly work. You can top the ziti with one cup of grated mozzarella (more or less to your liking).
- Recommended for this Recipe: Our Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Koroneiki olives!)
- Visit our store to browse our spices, olive oils and bundles!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Entree
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian