Baked Ziti with Sausage
Author: Pizza Today
Recipe type: entrees
Ingredients
- • 2 tablespoons olive oil
- • ½ cup onion, coarsely chopped
- • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
- • 3½ cups tomato puree
- • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- • 2 teaspoons dried basil, crumbled
- • 8 ounces ricotta
- • 1 teaspoon salt
- • ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- • ½ cup grated Parmesan
- • 1 pound ziti or penne pasta
- • ½ pound mozzarella, shredded (about 2 cups)
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, warm olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
- Add onion and sauté, stirring for 2 minutes.
- Add Italian sausage and cook and stir, crumbling sausage for 5-6 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.
- Remove from heat and drain off excess grease.
- Add tomato puree, oregano, and basil.
- Cook sauce at a steady simmer while preparing the rest of the dish.
- In a large bowl, combine ricotta, salt, parsley and parmesan.
- Set aside (refrigerate if any unused for longer than 30 minutes).
- Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until about half cooked.
- Drain pasta, and then set aside to dry further if you have time.
- Add pasta to ricotta cheese mixture and stir well to combine.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove sauce from heat and allow to cool about 5 minutes.
- Add sauce to the pasta and ricotta mixture and combine well.
- Pour pasta sauce mixture into a 4-5 quart ovenproof oven dish.
- Level top with the back of a spatula or spoon.
- Spread mozzarella evenly and bake until cheese is browned.