Baked Ziti

Name: Baked Ziti
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 6 oz ziti (dry); 2 cup tomato (canned, crushed); 1 cup cottage cheese (whole milk, blended smooth); 1 unit egg; ⅓ cup parmesan (grated); 6 oz low-moisture mozzarella (shredded); 1 unit onion (finely diced); 3 clove garlic (minced); 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp tomato paste; ½ tsp oregano (dried); 1 ¼ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper (ground); 2 tbsp basil (torn)

Noodles & Rice · American

14 ingredients · 65 minutes · 2 servings

Cook Now

921kcal56.5g protein40.9g fat83.1g carbs~$3.64/ serving*

Contains gluten, dairy, egg

Restrictions

Containsgluten · dairy · eggIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

Vegetarian · without onePescatarian · without oneNo pork · without oneNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

6 oz	ziti (dry)
2 cup	tomato (canned, crushed)
1 cup	cottage cheese (whole milk, blended smooth)
1 unit	egg
⅓ cup	parmesan (grated)
6 oz	low-moisture mozzarella (shredded)
1 unit	onion (finely diced)
3 clove	garlic (minced)
1 tbsp	olive oil
1 tbsp	tomato paste
½ tsp	oregano (dried)
1 ¼ tsp	salt
½ tsp	black pepper (ground)
2 tbsp	basil (torn)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

6 oz	hot Italian sausage (ground, casings removed)
¼ tsp	red pepper flakes
½ tsp	sugar
1 tsp	butter (for the dish)

Steps

Boil6 min
heavily salted water, 4 minutes short of the box time
- ziti
ziti until the tubes still snap when bitten, then drain without rinsing — pasta keeps absorbing liquid in a covered baking dish, and anything cooked through on the stove comes out of the oven as paste
Saute6 min
medium
olive oil + onion until translucent, + garlic + oregano for the last minute only; garlic added at the start of a six-minute sauté goes bitter before the onion is soft
Caramelize2 min
medium-high
- tomato
+ tomato paste, stirred against the hot pan until it darkens from red to brick — this is where the sauce gets the depth that a 15-minute simmer cannot supply
Simmer15 min
low, partly covered
- black pepper
+ crushed tomato + 1 tsp salt + black pepper, until the sauce coats a spoon and no longer tastes of raw can. Keep it looser than you would for a plated pasta — the ziti will drink some of it in the oven
Whisk3 min
blender or food processor
cottage cheese + egg + parmesan + 0.25 tsp salt until completely smooth. The egg is structural, not decorative: its protein sets around the curds and holds the whey in place, and cottage cheese folded in without it breaks under oven heat and leaves a watery layer at the bottom of the dish
Fold3 min
off heat
- basil
drained ziti + three-quarters of the sauce + the whole cheese mixture + basil, turning gently until every tube is coated inside and out. Off the heat matters — stir the egg mixture into a hot pan and it scrambles into visible threads
Bake25 min
375°F / 190°C, covered with foil
the ziti pressed level into a buttered dish, remaining sauce spooned over the top, foil on. Covered means the trapped steam hydrates the underdone pasta; uncovered at this stage the exposed tubes dry into hard shards
Broil6 min
foil off, 425°F or low broil
- low-moisture mozzarella
+ mozzarella scattered over the surface, until blistered and browned in patches. Low-moisture mozzarella is the point here — fresh mozzarella releases its packing water onto the top and steams instead of browning
Rest10 min
out of the oven, uncovered
undisturbed, so the molten cheese and sauce set enough to hold a cut edge; sliced straight from the oven it slumps into a single pool on the plate