Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 lb dry ziti pasta
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage (hot or mild)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 52 oz tomato sauce (2 jars, or homemade)
• 6+ oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 6+ oz ricotta cheese
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Italian seasoning (pre-mixed or assembled to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain excess grease.
3. Either remove sausage from the pan or push to the side, then brown the chopped onion to your preference.
4. Optionally, combine sausage, onion, and sauce in the pan and let simmer briefly to meld the flavors. If skipping, you’ll layer them separately.
5. Boil ziti in salted water simultaneously. Drain and set aside when done.
6. In a 13x9 baking dish, start layering:
   • Thin base layer of sauce on the bottom
   • Layer of ziti noodles
   • Sauce (and sausage/onion if not pre-mixed)
   • Italian seasoning to taste
   • Mozzarella
   • Parmesan
   • Spoonfuls of ricotta scattered across — keep these as clumps, do not spread
7. Repeat layers until the pan is full, adjusting the order as you see fit for cohesion.
8. Finish with a final layer of sauce topped with a generous covering of mozzarella and parmesan — this top layer will brown and become the best part.
9. Bake uncovered. Check at 30 minutes; it may take longer depending on your oven. It’s done when the cheese is browned and the smell is irresistible.

Notes

• More cheese is always the right call.
• Great day-of, but even better the next day after the noodles have soaked up the sauce overnight in the fridge.