Simple White Baked Ziti

Keith's Recipes

White Baked Ziti

A rich and flavorful baked cheesy pasta dish. Wonderfully filling and fun to make!

This is a fun and easy one my friend Scott and I came up with while trying to figure out what to do with some venison sausage I had sitting around. It's really good, really easy to make, and a good opportunity to play with sauces and cheeses - it's hard to make this go wrong...

Simple White Baked Ziti

Serves about 6

• 1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (I prefer hot venison sausage, but hot or sweet sausage will work, and pork or beef sausages are just fine as well)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (optional)
• 1 package (8-9 oz.) coiled or tube-type pasta (ziti, rotel, penne, etc.)
• 2 jars (about 32 oz. total) white pasta sauce (I like to use garlic alfredo, but a four cheese or a mushroom sauce should also work)
• 16 oz. (about) buffalo milk mozzarella
• 16 oz. (about) some aromatic cheese (I've tried several. Smoked Gouda is a good starting point, but look around for something interesting)
• 8 oz. fresh Parmesan
• Parsley

Prepare filling. Brown your meat in olive oil, and add onions if desired. You can use medallions, but I prefer to make it finer than that when using sausage.

While meat is browning, begin pasta. Keep an eye on the pasta, as you will only want to cook it about 2/3 done. The rest of the cooking will happen in the oven. Drain pasta and blanch in cold running tap water.

When the pasta is ready (remember, only about 2/3 cooked), pour sauce into a 13"x9" baking pan to just cover the bottom and keep the pasta from sticking. Pour in a layer of pasta - about 1/3 of what you have and spread it out more or less evenly. Pour filling over pasta. Cover with shredded mozzarella, another layer of sauce and another layer of pasta. Place sliced, shredded, or grated (depending on the cheese) of your aromatic cheese. Add another layer of sauce and the remainder of the pasta. Add the remainder of the sauce, then the last of the mozzarella. Cover with a layer of Parmesan and garnish with parsley.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the top has golden points.

Serve with salad and garlic herb bread. The remaining Parmesan can be used at the table as a garnish.