Simple "I-Don't-Have-To-Think-About-It" Baked Ziti

Confession time: I like cooking delicious dinners for Hubs and "Peep" (as my dad is calling her), but I hate having to constantly reference a recipe all the time.

I much prefer those times when I can just throw something together willy-nilly without thinking about it and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the end result will be amazing. This Baked Ziti does that for me.


Further confession time: I didn't actually make this dish with ziti noodles. There's just something about the shape of them that looks unappetizing. Go ahead and judge me.

Thrice confession time: I don't have a picture of the finished dish, but let's face it. It looks like you would expect.

Baked Ziti

1 16.-oz. box of pasta (I use penne or mostaccioli or something similar)
1 lb. (ish) of turkey sausage - optional (feel free to use turkey, chicken, beef, or regular sausage though. Whatevs. The idea is to not think about it too much!)
1 32-oz. jar pasta sauce (our favorite is Mid's three cheese)
1 16-oz container ricotta cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese (out of the can is fine)
12 oz. shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese (about a bag and a half, if you're wondering)
Your favorite spices

As you can see, many of the amounts and ingredients of this recipe are completely variable. DON'T LET THIS SCARE YOU. The basic building blocks of ziti are simple and straight-forward enough that adding slightly more of one thing and slightly less than another won't hurt anything. Pasta + sauce + cheese + sausage...how can you go wrong? (And...NO eggs in sight!)

1. Boil pasta until it is al dente. It will continue cooking in the oven.

2. While pasta is boiling, saute the meat (if you're using it) until it is cooked through and crumbled.

3. Drain pasta and mix with cooked sausage in a LARGE bowl.

4. Add whatever spices your heart desires. I like salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, rosemary, ground bay leaves, and a tiny amount of crushed red pepper.

5. Mix in ricotta cheese until it is broken up/melted/mixed through. (By the way, if you buy ricotta cheese in a huge tub and aren't sure how much is left in the container, just guesstimate. I do this all the time. The end result is still amazing.)

6. Add entire jar of sauce. If there is any sauce clinging to the sides of the jar, I like to add a bit of water (maybe 1/3 cup?) and shake it in the jar, then add that to the pasta. That tiny amount of water will not harm your ziti one bit (it'll actually help to cook the pasta while it's baking) and you'll get way more sauce (a.k.a. "flavor") into your dish.

7. Stir in shredded cheese a couple handfuls at a time, leaving out about a cup (half a bag). Shake some parmesan in there, too. Don't be shy.

8. Pour into a greased dish. I use two 2.75-qt. glass Anchor dishes and divide the mixture evenly between them. (I freeze one.)

9. Top with remaining cheese and cover with foil. If you're going to freeze it, put on your freezer-safe top (or foil or whatever) and stick it in the freezer.

10. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

When baking the frozen dish, I always let it thaw out overnight, then sit on the counter during the preheating cycle, because glass will break if it goes directly from freezer to hot oven. I've heard you can simply put the pan in in the oven before you preheat the oven (so they can both slowly come to temperature), but I haven't tried it because I love my glass dishes and don't want to risk breakage.

There you have it! Dinner you don't have to think about.