I admit I love a good Baked Ziti.
I’ve ordered baked ziti for delivery many times over the years I’ve lived here on the East Coast. I didn’t discover this warm, tasty, and comforting pasta dish until I moved out from the West. There have been some great and delicious versions I’ve enjoyed over the years here. Not that there are some really horrible versions, too. I guess it all depends on the pizza sauce which is what any pizza place will mix into their pasta. So if you like a particular pizza, I’m betting that the baked ziti will probably be great, too. It is funny to me that many of the delivery places will call it baked ziti when quite often they will use penne instead of ziti. Ziti usually has a slightly bigger diameter, and the ends are cut straight across. Penne is usually a little narrower, and the ends are cut diagonally, suggesting a quill pen. Either way, it still is tomatoey and cheesy baked deliciousness.
But what if I could make my own? A couple of weeks back I had a bunch of friends over for a birthday pizza party. I made sourdough pizza with homemade sauce. As usual, I made way too much food…lol. I always want to make sure I have enough just in case there are more people than I had planned for. I had really done it that time. I used the extra dough the next morning as some sourdough loaves. But what to do with the sauce, the cheese, sliced onions and mushrooms, and the whole bag of thawed party meatballs I never got to cook for the gathering? I decided to make my own baked ziti with vodka sauce for dinners for the week. I take my dinner into the theater most days and leftovers are awesome. The baked ziti was so delicious. All week I kept finding myself getting excited that I got to eat it again for dinner! I usually try and freeze some of it for a variety at a later time. But with this baked ziti I just kept eating it until it was all gone.
So I decided to recreate it for What To Munch. I usually don’t like to include premade ingredients in most of my recipes, but part of what is fantastic about this baked ziti recipe is how easy and quick it is to make. Frozen party meatballs made this so easy to make. Of course, if you want to make your own homemade meatballs, they would be incredible in this baked ziti. I duplicated my rich and thick pizza sauce as the base for the sauce with the addition of onions and mushrooms and made it fancy, as I do, with vodka and cream. I did all that the first time around, and it was just as incredible the second time. In about an hour you can have this on the table for dinner. It would take just about the same amount of time if you ordered it from your favorite pizza delivery place.
I encourage you to make this next time you think about ordering it. You will not be disappointed. Let me know in the comments below what you have done and what else you might like to add to this delicious baked ziti. I bet if I had added the leftover pepperoni, it would have been fun too!
An easy and quick pasta that is great anytime. Using premade meatballs and a rich pizza sauce as the base it is easy and tasty.
- 1 20 oz package frozen party meatballs thawed if possible
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 10 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 28 oz can tomato puree
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- ½ cup vodka
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb shredded cheese a combination of jack and mozzarella or all mozzarella
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
- 1 lb dried ziti pasta
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Pre-heat the oven to 350°
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Have a large casserole dish or 13 by 9” dish sprayed with cooking spray and ready.
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While the oven is heating, heat a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
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When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and sauté the onions and mushrooms until the onions have softened and most of the the moisture has cooked out of the mushrooms, about 5 minutes.
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Add the tomato puree, tomato paste, vodka, dried basil and oregano, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Let the sauce come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover.
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Start to heat a large pot of water to a boil.
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Stirring occasionally, let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes or a bit longer as you cook the meatballs and the pasta.
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When the oven has preheated, bake the meatballs according to the directions on the package. It usually is about 20 minutes.
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When the water has come to a boil, heavily salt the water and cook the pasta just until al-dente, about 10 minutes, reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and add to the pasta sauce.
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Drain the pasta and set aside.
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Just before the meatballs have finished cooking, stir in the heavy cream into the pasta sauce and take it off the heat.
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When the meatballs have cooked through, remove the meatballs from the oven. But leave the oven on.
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Combine the meatballs, pasta and the finished sauce in a large bowl, container or pot. Stir in half of the shredded cheese, mixing well to combine. If you have a large enough sauce pot that you cooked the sauce in, you can use that.
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Pour and spread the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
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Top with the remaining shredded cheese and the grated Parmesan.
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Bake in the 350° oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and it has just begun to brown.
