Better Baked Ziti ++

We used to watch Mr. Food on the noon news. “Oh, it’s sooo good” was his catch phrase. And this recipe is. Laurie tells me we used to make this all the time, but my feeble memory doesn’t remember. But she just made it last weekend and … oooh, it’s sooo good!

This one came originally from this Mr. Food cookbook. But as usual, my lovely wife modified it a bit (thus the “++” in the title). Basically she added some spinach, which we really like in pasta dishes, and this recipe also lists Italian sausage (she’s made it with and without the meat). Also, I found a version of this one online that included the extra garlic powder and salt, so I included it, but marked them as “optional” in the ingredient list.

Better Baked Ziti ++

Print Recipe

Sounds like it’s old-fashioned difficult but it’s really one of the easiest (and least expensive) ways to feed a whole gang. They’ll love it this way ’cause for some reason this one seems richer and smoother than the regular ones. And look, five simple ingredients!

• CourseMain Dish
• CuisineItalian

Servings	Prep Time
8 people	20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings Prep Time 8 people 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Better Baked Ziti ++ Print Recipe Sounds like it’s old-fashioned difficult but it’s really one of the easiest (and least expensive) ways to feed a whole gang. They’ll love it this way ’cause for some reason this one seems richer and smoother than the regular ones. And look, five simple ingredients! CourseMain Dish CuisineItalian Servings Prep Time 8 people 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings Prep Time 8 people 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups bottled spaghetti sauce divided
• 1/2 pound ziti noodles
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided, 12 ounces
• 12 oz fresh baby spinach. this is the “++” … not in the original recipe!
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt optional

Servings: people

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pre-cook/brown the Italian sausage, mix it with the spaghetti sauce, and set it aside. In a large pot, cook ziti in boiling water until just barely tender; drain and place in a large bowl; Mix the ricotta cheese and half the mozzarella cheese plus the spinach with the ziti. Grease a 9" X 13" baking pan; cover bottom of pan with half the spaghetti/meat sauce. Spoon the ziti mixture into the pan; cover with the remaining spaghetti/meat sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese melts and is lightly golden.

Recipe Notes

NOTE from the Mr Food cookbook: I especially like the new hearty-style prepared spaghetti sauces with this and when I don’t have ziti-shaped pasta on hand, I simply substitute other shapes

NOTE from Bill:  The Italian sausage is optional. If you don't want to use meat sauce, just omit the meat...