When I am craving something comforting and warm, I want this easy baked pasta for dinner. It has all of the things that I want when I have had a long and trying day. Pasta? Check. Cheese? Three kinds. Crusty top? Yup. We eat a lot of vegetarian dishes at our house to observe Meatless Monday and now Lent; I cannot have enough vegetarian recipes in my arsenal. What I love about this baked pasta dish is that I can put it all together earlier in the day (or freeze it) and put in the oven when we are ready for dinner. Everyone in my house likes this because it is simple and filling. I can also hide some veggies in it, sauteed mushrooms and peppers are so good in this pasta. Of course, you could add some sausage or meatballs too. This is my favorite way to make (and eat) baked pasta, but I am sure that there a million ways to make it.
Of course you can use a jarred tomato sauce for this recipe, but I like to make my own. I like to make huge batches of sauce and keep them in my fridge and freezer.
1 pound rigatoni (or whatever tube shape you have)
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 jar tomato sauce
Cook the rigatoni in a pot of boiling, salted water. Cook according to the package directions, but drain when the pasta still has some bite to it, maybe 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time. It is also going to cook in the oven, you do not want your pasta to be overcooked. Reserve a little cooking water.
Mix together the ricotta cheese, garlic, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup parsley. The rest of the cheese and parsley will be used for the top.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Add the ricotta cheese mixture and half of the tomato sauce to the pot.
Mix until it coats all of the pasta. If it is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water to thin it out.
Spread the pasta evenly into a 9×13 casserole dish.
Spread the rest of the pasta sauce over the top.
Add the mozzarella cheese, remaining Parmesan, and remaining parsley to the top.
Cover with foil and put the baked ziti in the fridge until you are ready to bake it off. Or cook it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes covered with tin foil. Take the tin foil off and cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Let the pan sit for at least 10 minutes before you cut it. If I am really motivated, I serve with with a salad and garlic bread.
Ingredients
- 1 pound rigatoni (or whatever tube shape you have)
- 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 jar tomato sauce
Instructions
- Cook the rigatoni in a pot of boiling, salted water. Cook according to the package directions, but drain when the pasta still has some bite to it, maybe 2 minutes before the end of the cooking time. It is also going to cook in the oven, you do not want your pasta to be overcooked. Reserve a little cooking water.
- Mix together the ricotta cheese, garlic, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup parsley. The rest of the cheese and parsley will be used for the top.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Add the ricotta cheese mixture and half of the tomato sauce to the pot.
- Mix until it coats all of the pasta. If it is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water to thin it out.
- Spread the pasta evenly into a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Spread the rest of the pasta sauce over the top.
- Add the mozzarella cheese, remaining Parmesan, and remaining parsley to the top.
- Cover with foil and put the baked ziti in the fridge until you are ready to bake it off. Or cook it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes covered with tin foil. Take the tin foil off and cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Let the pan sit for at least 10 minutes before you cut it.
I love baked pastas – so easy and satisfying! Your pictures are GORGEOUS.
alicia recently posted..Creamless Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
thanks so much Alicia!
yum. all of your recipes are awesome!! I love dishes like this!
thank you Mary! You are so sweet to me.
I love your site! Your recipe’s are easy to follow and looks yummy like this one.
Audrey Mora recently posted..Attention Flathead Pet Owners
thank you Audrey!
This looks delish! I must add this to my menu for next week.
p.s. Happy birthday.
marinda recently posted..Ashley Daniel- Engaged! Louisville- Kentucky Engagement and Wedding Photographer Marinda Fowler
thank you Marinda!
Yum, this sounds easy peasy! I love baked pasta, more so in the autumn and winter months.
Me too. It is so comforting.
oh. em. gee. this looks sooo good. i def want to make it sooooon! thanks for sharing
it is so good. I love a baked pasta dish for dinner.
Delish! I always love your recipes.
This is also how I make baked ziti in a crockpot — and you don’t even have to boil the pasta first! Just put the whole thing in the crockpot, turn it on for however long your want it to cook, and you’re all set! (Now I’m hungry — gotta go!)
I never would have thought to make ziti that way. I am going to try that next time.
This looks perfect for those cold rainy days we’ve been having!
Sarah recently posted..A Perfect Roast of Beef
It is perfect for a rainy evening. Easy and comforting.
This looks great. I have added it to my dinner list. Thnaks!!!!
tamara recently posted..Bloom Fabulous 15 52 week project 11 morning
you are very welcome.
Hi Bree,
I am thoroughly enjoying your website and looking forward to trying many of your recipes. I love the time you take in sharing your beautiful photographs as well. I’ve got the baked ziti ready to put in the oven. Yeah! Thank you!
thank you Jennifer!!
This was the perfect meal to get ready during the day and bake when we came home from baseball. A keeper for sure! Thanks again.
Melanie recently posted..Greenfest 2011
I saw this about 2 hrs ago, now I just got back from the grocery store with all the ingredients, I obviously couldn’t wait to try it lol. I think I am going to add some sausage though, I can’t help it I love meat too much.
This sounds great! I want to fix tonite, but don’t know how many ounces “one jar” of tomato sauce is. PLEASE POST ASAP!
Thanks
1 big jar. Just the normal size in the grocery store.
Fixed it – loved it!
great!
Yum! Love your gorgeous photos too!
I substituted arugula from our garden for the parsley (turned out to be about a cup chopped).
Also used thawed-out stewed tomatoes from the garden instead of tomato sauce. Love recipes like this where I can incorporate what we’ve grown.
AshevilleYardFarmer recently posted..Worm tea and worm castings
I am very jealous of all of your home grown veg. Glad that you liked this recipe.
How many does this feed???
6?
I hope you don’t mind, I posted this recipe on my Facebook page for Meatless Monday. Looks delicious! Thanks!
Sally recently posted..Don’t Tell Mom. It’s TURKEY MEATLOAF
Not at all!
I’m very excited about this dish. I just placed it in the fridge and I’m going to serve it with salad and and garlic bread tonight for my boo… Thanks for the pictures, without them I wouldn’t have known what I was doing! I also incorporated chicken, so we’ll see how that goes. Thanks so much for the recipe !
I hope that you both loved it!