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Baked ziti in a rustic dish with browned bubbly mozzarella, red tomato sauce and fresh basil, a serving scooped out

Cousin Mike's Baked Ziti

Saucy, gooey baked ziti that never dries out into a cheese brick. The tricks: boil the pasta shy of al dente, use more sauce than feels right, and layer the cheese through the middle — not just on top.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 8
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ziti or penne or rigatoni
  • 4 cups marinara sauce preferably homemade
  • 1 lb Italian sausage or ground beef optional
  • 15 oz whole-milk ricotta
  • 1 large egg
  • 16 oz mozzarella shredded, divided
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for the pasta water
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • fresh basil for serving

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the ziti 2 minutes SHORT of al dente — it will finish cooking in the oven and soak up sauce. Drain, but do not rinse.
  2. If using meat, brown the sausage or beef in a skillet, breaking it up, then stir it into the marinara. Warm the sauce through.
  3. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper.
  4. Toss the drained ziti with about 3 cups of the sauce until every piece is well coated. It should look a little loose — that is on purpose; the pasta drinks it up as it bakes.
  5. Spread a thin layer of sauce in a 9x13-inch dish. Add half the ziti, then dollop over half the ricotta mixture and scatter half the mozzarella. This buried cheese layer is what makes every scoop gooey.
  6. Add the remaining ziti, the rest of the sauce, the remaining ricotta in dollops, then the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
  7. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15–20 minutes, until bubbling and browned on top.
  8. Rest 10 minutes so it sets up and slices cleanly, then finish with torn fresh basil.

Notes

Undercook the pasta and use plenty of sauce — those two moves are what keep baked ziti from drying out. Make-ahead: assemble, cover, and refrigerate up to 2 days; add 10–15 minutes to the covered bake time from cold. Freezes well assembled and unbaked for up to 3 months. Built on Cousin Mike's Homemade Marinara Sauce.