Baked Ziti

Step 1

Preheat a cooking pot over medium heat and add olive oil.

Step 2

Add chopped onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables for a few minutes, until starts to soften, and then stir in garlic. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasoning, and herbs.

Step 3

Lower the heat to low, cover with a lid, and let it all cook while preparing pasta and meat. (Give it 15-20 minutes to cook.)

Step 4

To blend the sauce, you can use an immersion blender or transfer it into a standing blender. Pulse until the sauce is smooth, or you can leave it a little chunky if you wish.

Step 5

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente (tender but still has a little bite to it in the very center).

Step 6

Strain pasta in a colander and set aside.

Step 7

Preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and add olive oil.

Step 8

Stir in diced onions and let them sauté until starts to soften. Stir in garlic and sauté just until fragrant. Add Italian sausage and break it up as much as you can.

Step 9

Cook, breaking up sausage chunks, until sausage is completely cooked through. Take off heat.

Step 10

In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses with herbs and seasoning. Mix until smooth.

Step 11

Stir in 3 cups of pasta sauce into the cooked meat mixture and add some crushed red pepper flakes. Add cooked pasta and mix until evenly combined.

Step 12

In the bottom of a casserole dish, spread remaining cup of pasta sauce and add half of ricotta mixture in dollops.

Step 13

Spread the pasta/meat mixture evenly over the sauce and ricotta.

Step 14

Add remaining ricotta mixture over the pasta, in dollops.

Step 15

Spread grated parmesan and shredded mozzarella evenly over the top and then sprinkle Italian herb seasoning over the it.

Step 16

Bake at 350° for 15-25 minutes, depending on the casserole dish you used. (If you use a larger casserole dish, like 9x13, you will probably need 15-20 minutes. If you use a smaller but deep casserole dish, you may need to bake it for up to 25 minutes.)