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a deep baking dish of red-sauced ziti tubes with visible white ricotta pockets beneath browned melted mozzarella and Parmesan, with one serving scooped from a corner
Rachel Kim

Classic Baked Ziti

A simple tomato sauce and small pockets of ricotta give classic ziti its familiar soft center. Mozzarella browns over the ridges on top. Simmer the sauce before you boil the pasta. That gives the garlic time to mellow without leaving cooked noodles waiting in the colander, and the sauce should still flow easily when you fold it through the tubes. Keep the ricotta in loose spoonfuls instead of stirring it completely smooth so each serving has a few distinct creamy bites.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb dry ziti
  • 1 tbsp fine salt for pasta water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes 28 oz
  • 1 can tomato sauce 15 oz
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt for sauce
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
  • 10 oz low-moisture mozzarella grated, divided
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Warm oil in a large saucepan and cook garlic over medium-low heat for 1 minute until fragrant. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, sauce salt and pepper and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, boil ziti in water with the tablespoon salt until 3 minutes short of the package time. Drain without rinsing and fold into the tomato sauce.
  3. Spread half the sauced pasta in a deep 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Dot with half the ricotta and scatter with 3 oz mozzarella, then repeat with remaining pasta, ricotta and another 3 oz mozzarella.
  4. Scatter remaining 4 oz mozzarella and Parmesan over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
  5. Uncover and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until bubbling, the center reaches 165°F and the top has brown patches. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.