Homemade Pizza Baked Ziti
- Yield 8
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 35 minutes
- Total 50 minutes
Homemade Pizza Baked Ziti is a pasta recipe on Avoteb. The yield on the card is 8. Plan on 50 minutes from start to plate. The amounts and the method are both on this page.
Ingredients
Yield: 8 servings
- 12 ounces uncooked pasta (such as ziti, rigatoni or penne)
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 to 4 cups sliced veggies (such as bell peppers, red onion, mushrooms, etc)
- 3 cups marinara sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 to 2 cups extra pizza toppings (such as olives, pepperoni, pepperoncini, etc)
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- optional toppings: fresh basil, crushed red pepper flakes, extra Parmesan
Method
Warm the oven to 375°F.
Leave the pasta. Warm a large stockpot of generously-salted water until boiling. Tip in the pasta (around the same time that you begin sautéing any veggies, see below) and cook the pasta until it is 1 minute shy of al dente. Tip off the pasta completely and keep nearby.
Sauté the sausage (if using).* Heat a large non-stick sauté pan over medium-a hot burner. Tip in the sausage and cook until browned, crumbling the sausage with a wooden spoon as you go. Move the cooked sausage to a clean bowl and keep nearby.
Sauté any veggies that need to be cooked.* Add the oil to the sauté pan, followed by any veggies that need to be pre-cooked (see note below). Sauté the veggies for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Mix Put back the cooked pasta to the large stockpot and add in the cooked sausage, cooked veggies, marinara sauce and any extra pizza toppings that you would like to bake into the casserole. (It is worth reserving a small handful of toppings to sprinkle on top of the casserole, if you would like.) Toss until evenly combined.
Layer the casserole. In a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add half of the pasta mixture and spread it out in an even layer. Scatter half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese evenly on top of the pasta. Then add the remaining pasta mixture in an even layer, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella evenly on top of the pasta, and finish with a sprinkle of your reserved pizza toppings.
Roast Roast uncovered for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and golden and the casserole is heated through. Lift from the oven and move to a wire cooling rack.
Plate Plate the baked ziti while it is nice and hot, garnished with your favorite toppings.
