San Giorgio Baked Ziti
The baked ziti people remember from the back of the box, with three changes: the pasta comes out of the pot three minutes early, the ricotta is seasoned and bound with an egg, and the foil comes off for the last fifteen minutes.
Ingredients
For the Pasta and Sauce
- 1 pound San Giorgio ziti rigati or any ridged ziti
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- 24 ounces jarred marinara sauce 1 jar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for the pasta water
- 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water scooped out before draining
For the Ricotta and Cheese
- 15 ounces whole milk ricotta 1 tub, drained if it looks wet
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus a little for the top
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 12 ounces low-moisture mozzarella shredded from a block
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Boil and Build the Sauce
- First, heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Cook the ziti about 3 minutes short of the package time, until it is still firm at the center, then scoop out a cup of the water and drain.
- Next, soften the onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, add the garlic and pepper flakes for one minute more, then pour in the jar of marinara, the salt and half the reserved pasta water. Simmer 5 minutes.
Season the Ricotta and Layer
- Then beat the egg into the ricotta with the Parmesan, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and black pepper. Taste it. It should taste seasoned on its own, because nothing else in the dish will season it later.
- After that, toss the drained pasta with two thirds of the sauce, adding the rest of the pasta water if it looks tight. Spread half of it in a 9-by-13-inch dish, spread all of the ricotta over that in an even band, then add the remaining pasta, the last of the sauce and the shredded mozzarella.
Bake and Rest
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling at the edges rather than only steaming in the middle.
- Finally, take the foil off and bake 15 minutes more, until the mozzarella is brown in patches. Rest the pan 15 minutes before cutting, which is what lets the cheese set and the sauce thicken.
Notes
Pasta: boil it about 3 minutes short of the package time. It keeps cooking in the oven, and this is the main reason a pan comes out soft.
Ricotta: whole milk, and drain it in a sieve for 20 minutes if the tub looks wet. Season and taste it before it goes in the dish.
Cover then uncover: foil on for 25 minutes to heat the middle, off for 15 to brown the top. Doing only one of the two is why baked ziti comes out either pale or dry.
Make-ahead: assemble up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate, holding the mozzarella back until baking. Add 15 to 20 minutes if it goes in cold.
Freezing: 3 months baked or unbaked. From frozen, bake covered at 375 degrees for about 90 minutes.
Resting: 15 minutes out of the oven, every time.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1square | Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 980mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Calcium: 500mg