This is it! The Geller ziti; Hubby and I are famous in our neighborhood for this yummy dish. It’s a quick prep, but it lasts long in people’s memories.
Creamy Baked Ziti
Servings
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 1-pound box ziti or penne rigate
- 2 26-ounce jars prepared marinara sauce
- 1 32-ounce container ricotta cheese
- 2 8-ounce packages shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cook ziti about 2 to 3 minutes less than package directions for al dente pasta. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix marinara sauce, ricotta and 1 cup of mozzarella.
- Pour about 2 cups of the sauce mixture in prepared pan, spreading over bottom.
- Combine ziti and remaining sauce mixture and stir until well combined, making sure there are no dry patches of pasta. Pour into pan and spread to edges.
- Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over ziti to cover.
- Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and cover ziti. This will keep the cheese from sticking to the foil.
- Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
- Serve hot, straight out of the pan.
Tips
- One of the secrets to this ziti is that the pasta is slightly undercooked before it goes into the oven, which helps prevent it from becoming too mushy.
- Recipe Courtesy of QUICK & KOSHER Recipes From The Bride Who Knew Nothing by Jamie Geller (Feldheim 2007) – BUY NOW
Yes for sure
Can I freeze the baked ziti
Can the baked ziti be frozen
Sorry, we do have some recipes for two but you might like this article https://jamiegeller.com/from-jamie/easy-dinner-recipes-for-two/
Is it possible to publish recipes in smaller amounts. I am alone and all your recipes sound so good, but make too much.
Sure, it will reheat well on a blech or hot plate, just make sure to give it enough time on there to get hot.
So I just found out that I can’t use my oven (I have only one) for milchig and fleishig on yomtov due to not being able to cool the oven down in between uses. So I’ll have to use my blech or stove top flame for my milchig dishes. I would love to make this delicious looking/sounding creamy baked ziti…anyone think I can reheat this on a hot blech and it’ll taste okay? I’d appreciate your advice on this as I don’t want to disappoint my guests :(.
I will take the A! I always say cooking like real estate is about 3 things presentation, Presentation, PRESENTATION (as compared to location, Location, LOCATION!) we eat with our eyes first!!! Happy Turkey Day to you!
Yup! We can definitely be friends!
LOL again – LOVE IT!!!! Basil is my absolute FAVORITE herb and would be excellent here (and in almost everything — salad, stews, roasts etc…). And love the addition of pilpellim :-))))
So, we think alike about basil and pilpellim! I knew I liked you!!! LOL
LOL!!!!! And I love your tip!!!! Thanks SO much for sharing!
Oh, Jamie, speaking of being a Home Ec major, this video reminded me of one of my instructors, who would have loved the presentation. She was really big into a colorful meal. That pretty pasta in that gorgeous colorful casserole dish looks just splendid. I know she would have given you an A for presentation. LOL
I know Israel does not celebrate our American Thanksgiving, but since you are from America, I will wish you a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!
;-D
Hey Jamie,
I know I just wrote, but I was reading some of the comments and I thought I’d share my other additions. I add chopped bell pepper and basil, both of which I add to just about everything. Pilpellim (I hope that is properly transliterated) in everything.
Jaime,
I hope you do not mind me writing with a little hint about using aluminum foil. Always put the shiny side facing in to reflect less of the heat. (I was a Home Ec major and was taught that in school.) It appeared that the foil was shiny side out; but that may have been an illusion. It’s, also, a tip you might want to pass on when making a video using foil. Thanks. 😉
By the way, ziti is always too dry, never saucy enough; I don’t know why it never occurred to me to use twice the sauce! What a good idea! Thanks so much for the tip.
ooooh ok – so just omit the ricotta — add a few more handfuls of mozz to the sauce and pasta, mix well, top with mozz and you are good to go. (If you want a creamier sauce you can also add 1/2 – 1 cup of heavy cream to the marinara – YUMMMY 🙂
About baked ziti, my husband and i do not like any cheese besides morzella how should i do it then?
oh YAY! that was easy 🙂
YES!!! Thats exactly what I was looking for. I bought everything I could remember and forgot the Heavy cream. Thank you so much.
Hey Colleen do you mean this recipe: http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/creamy-pink-linguine/
and this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFIjnGUNmQQ
I think this is what I saw you make on Quick and Kosher except it was all made in a pot then served. No Oven required.
WOW YAY!!!! and WOW really? about my hair? you like the cut that much…? :-))))))
I saw this on your PBS Chanukkah special. My picky family gobbled it up and I’m getting my haircut like yours next week.
nice idea to cut the fat thanks so much for sharing! (But just want to know – were you suggesting I NEED LESS FAT? = JK 🙂
you can also substitute half the ricotta with cottage cheese – tastes great and less fat
YAY AND YUM AND MAZEL TOV TO HER AND THANKS TO YOU!!!!
Just gave this to my sister who just got married as an easy supper that looks gourment! MMM!! want to join them!
Yuparoo – supposed to be “creamy”! If you want to cut back I would suggest BOTH marinara and ricotta in equal proportions. The marinara is what makes it saucy – but if you cut back just the marinara then your sauce will be too light on tomato flavor and too heavy on ricotta flavor.
This is basically the recipe I’ve always made, but you use way more sauce and ricotta cheese than I usually do. So I tried it your way. There was way too much sauce for the amount of pasta. I’m assuming that’s how you meant it to be, since you put “creamy” in the title of this recipe. I guess it’s just a matter of taste/preference. If I were to cut down on anything to make this a bit less saucy, would you suggest using less marinara or less ricotta – or both?
YAY – us too!!! We just had it for dinner the other night!!!
I don’t usually cook, but this recipe was super easy and delicious that I made it, and it was a hit! It’s now our weekly supper, my whole family adores it. Thanks.
Hey Elisheva — I freeze it all the time. Assemble then freeze before baking. Ideally you want it defrost before baking and serving.
ooooh love that idea!!!
Does anyone ever freeze baked ziti? If so do you freeze it before or after baking? And do you defrost before reheating or just stick it straight in the oven from the freezer?
great and easy recipe!
i add frozen spinach to the boiling pasta – makes this dish ‘somewhat’ healthy!
What a GREAT!!! idea. It’s so hard to deviate when you’ve made something one way for so long. I love this, thanks for sharing.
I made this and it was a hit. SO GOOD! A quick suggestion: sautee onions, garlic and mushrooms and add them into the ziti mixture before baking. Really quick and a great addition!