Baked Ziti
Baked Ziti is a simple yet delectable dish that adds flair to any gathering. It gracefully combines ziti pasta, seasoned ground beef, savory spaghetti sauce, and a medley of cheeses.
Baked Ziti is a simple yet delectable dish that adds flair to any gathering. It gracefully combines ziti pasta, seasoned ground beef, savory spaghetti sauce, and a medley of cheeses.
- Carbohydrate 297.01377993544 g
- Cholesterol 958.599165025665 mg
- Fat 160.989309297455 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 236.807184932702 g
- Saturated Fat 86.5573127931152 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1542g)
- Sodium 3161.90720260066 mg
- Sugar 297.01377993544 g
- Trans Fat 14.548069530943 g
- Calories 3623 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
- In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.
Can this casserole be assembled entirely the morning before baking, or will the pasta absorb too much liquid and turn mushy? Extruded wheat shapes like ziti continue hydrating whenever they sit submerged in tomato liquid. Cook the pasta precisely to al dente, stopping two minutes shy of standard tenderness, if the dish must sit in the refrigerator for longer than four hours before entering the 350 degree F oven.
Freezing and Thermal Behavior
Solid glass and ceramic baking dishes must reach room temperature before entering a preheated oven, otherwise thermal shock can crack the material. Assemble the unbaked ziti directly in a foil pan when freezing is the primary goal, wrapping the top tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and heavy-duty aluminum foil. Frozen casseroles require an extra twenty minutes under foil cover at 350 degrees F to ensure the dense center reaches a food-safe temperature. Sour cream behaves unpredictably under extended freezing cycles, sometimes separating into watery pockets; substitute whole-milk ricotta if the dish is destined for the freezer rather than immediate consumption.
- Watery sauce layers usually indicate the ground beef released excess fat that was not drained before adding the 26 ounce jars of tomato product.
- Browned edges on the provolone and mozzarella signal proper completion, typically occurring right at the 30 minute mark.
- Gluten-free brown rice ziti requires immediate assembly and baking without resting periods, because alternative grains disintegrate rapidly in acidic environments.
