My cravings for baked pasta kicked in again this month. It came in the form of baked ziti. Baked ziti is a classic Italian inspired dish I grew up eating at the local pizzerias in Brooklyn, New York. My favorite will always be the baked ziti at the local pizzeria where my family lived when I was a kid, but I never turn down baked pasta from almost any pizzeria in New York City. The melty cheese paired with the hearty meat and vegetables swirled into the large tube-shaped pasta and slathered in tomato sauce always satisfies my strongest carb cravings. The version I made this week is no different. The only change I made is to reduce the amount of cheese, but still keep all of the flavors and aromas of my favorite baked pasta. My baked ziti starts with packaged dry ziti pasta cooked according to package instructions just 2 minutes shy of the “al dente” recommended cooking time. As the pasta is cooking away, I prepare a medium hot skillet, brown a mixture of sweet and spicy Italian sausage, add in some thinly sliced portabella mushrooms, fold in some fresh spinach, sprinkle in a good amount of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and then waited until the pasta was ready before folding the pasta into the meat and vegetable sauce. I finish off the pasta with some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and toss everything around before pouring the pasta into two medium sized baking dishes, topping them with more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and adding some fresh mozzarella cheese. I alternate between covering the pasta with aluminum foil and not. Covering the pasta with aluminum foil keeps the pasta on top from hardening. Most people may prefer this method. I, however, like to have different textures and sometimes prefer some hardened pasta on top. Depending on your preference, you can either choose to cover the pasta or just skip this step. The entire pasta from start to finish takes about 45 minutes. The end result is always a steaming plate or bowl of cheesy, tangy, and savory goodness. Baked ziti is my ultimate comfort food even on hot summer days. Eating it always brings back wonderful memories of my childhood where I would go to school and on my walk home after school, stop by the local pizzeria and pick up some baked ziti for a late lunch/early dinner. The version I remember most growing up always had too much cheese. My version has a lot less cheese without sacrificing the flavor. I love making baked pasta especially baked ziti because of how many servings it yields. The baked ziti is wonderful fresh, but tastes equally good the next day after you refrigerate it in the fridge and reheat it in the microwave.
For the Italian sausage, mushroom, and spinach baked ziti:
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 package dry ziti pasta
· 6 ounces sweet Italian sausage
· 6 ounces spicy Italian sausage
· 6-8 portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced
· 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole tomatoes, hand crushed
· 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
· ½ (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
· 1 cup loosely packed spinach
· 4 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated and divided
· 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes or torn into small pieces
Directions:
1) Heat a pot of water on medium high heat until it starts to boil. Add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Pour in the dry ziti pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions two minutes short of the cook time listed on the package instructions. When time is up, remove the pot from the heat. Reserve about ¼ cup of pasta water. Drain the rest of the water from the pasta. Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside two medium casserole dishes.
3) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the sweet and spicy Italian sausage. Use a spatula to break up the sausage. Cook the sausage until it begins to brown and develop crispy brown bits, about 5-7 minutes. Fold in the sliced mushrooms. Cook for another two minutes. Add in the spinach and cook until spinach begins to wilt, about 30 seconds. Add the pasta water, hand crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine. Add in half of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Toss in the undercooked ziti pasta.
4) Pour half of the pasta evenly into the two casserole dishes. Add about ½ of the remaining half of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese evenly across the two casserole dishes. Add a few cubes or pieces of mozzarella cheese into the two dishes. Pour the remaining half of the pasta into the two casserole dishes. Top both dishes with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and mozzarella cheese.
5) Place the two casserole dishes into the preheated oven. Bake the pasta for 25-30 minutes.
Takeaways: If you don’t want any hardened ziti on top after you bake the pasta, cover the casserole dishes with a sheet of aluminum foil for the first 15-20 minutes and then remove it for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. The pasta dish is very versatile, you can swap in any pasta shapes, meats, and vegetables you like.
For more ideas, check out my spinach and sausage baked rigatoni, broccoli and sausage baked penne, or peppers and sausage baked cavatappi. As you can probably see, sausage is a must in my baked pasta.