Easy Cheesy, Vegetarian, Baked Ziti Recipe

I had been craving baked Ziti. I wanted it to be rich and warm and oh so cheesy. And just like that my friend Carl posted a Baked Ziti recipe on his blog. What were the odds? So I gathered together the ingredients and told hubby I'd be making Ziti for dinner on Tueday night. He wasn't that enthused and said it sounded "weird."  I told him it's like lasagna but the pasta is a different shape. (To say he isn't a culinary adventurer would be an understatement of gargantuan proportion')

So I made this entire Baked Ziti just for me!

Close up of cheesy goodness...

A Melted Cheese Action Shot

CLICK HERe to visit Carl's Blog for the full recipe and a great photo tutorial of how to make the Baked Ziti

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 1 Pound Dried Ziti
• 1 Jar of Marinara Sauce (RAO'S preferred - if you use a cheaper brand you may need to add more seasoning, salt, pepper, etc. to your dish)
• Ricotta Cheese (15 ounces)
• Mozzarella Cheese (16 ounces)
• Pecorino Romano Cheese (about 5 ounces)
• 1 egg yoke
• Freshly ground nutmeg (generous pinch)
• Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley (handful)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

MEAT OPTION:

Add the pasta sauce to 1/2 or 1 lb of cooked meat (ground meat or sausage) that was sauteed with diced onion and seasoned with salt and stir into the rest of the mixture same as before. Due to the increased volume be sure to use a large casserole dish.

HEALTHIER OPTION:

Use low fat ricotta and mozzarella

MODIFICATIONS I MADE WERE USING:

• Penne instead of Ziti
• Less Mozzarella and more Romano Cheese to make the dish less rich
• Bottled, pre-ground nutmeg
• Dried parsley (instead of fresh)

Before the Ziti finished cooling I put four portions into tupperware containers to freeze before the pasta had time to absorb all of the liquid from the tomato sauce. The rest I put in the fridge. Served with a simple green salad and garlic bread made from fresh garlic (I'll show you how I make it in a subsequent post) this would be a great and simple dinner to whip together as an occasional dish (I don't even want to know the cholesterol count) for cheese and pasta lovers.

Thanks Carl for sharing your recipe! I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

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