Baked Ziti
Servings 6
Equipment
- 1 Baking Dish
- 1 Metal Spider
Ingredients
- 1 pound italian sausage
- 1 medium yellow onion diced fine
- 1 large red bell pepper diced fine
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup beef stock or prepared bouillon
- 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomato
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 16-ounce package ziti pasta , undercooked
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil and preheat oven to 350°.
- Brown sausage and crumble over high heat. Depending on how much fat is in the sausage, there may be enough rendered out of the sausage but, if the pan looks dry, add a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add onions, bell pepper, and salt, and sauté over medium high heat until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant, then deglaze pan with beef bouillon.
- By this time, the water should be boiling. Start the pasta in the boiling water.
- In the pan with the meat and vegetables, add the tomato paste, and cook for a minute until it brightens in color. Reduce the heat, then add the canned tomatoes. Stir frequently and bring to a simmer. Add the dried basil.
- Continue to simmer until the pasta is just finished - pull pasta when it is still undercooked.
- Stir the pasta and a few splashes of the pasta water into the sauce to reach desired consistency.
- Assemble in layers. Start with half of pasta and sauce mixture, half of the ricotta, then top with half the parsley, half the parmesan, and half the mozzarella. Season layer with salt and pepper, then repeat all layers.
- Bake at 350° about 30 minutes.