Creamy, savory, cheesy baked Ziti! A typical Italian comfort dish! Very easy to make and so welcoming on a cold winter evening!
Ingredients:
Serves 4
• 1/2 to 3/4 lb of Italian sausage
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbs of butter
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of red wine
• 1 – 14 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes with their liquid
• 1 Tbs of tomato paste
• tsp of dried basil
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 cup of Ricotta
• 2 cups of shredded Mozzarella
• 1/2 lb of Ziti pasta
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
In a heavy skillet over medium/high heat, melt 1 Tbs of butter and a drizzle of olive oil and cook the pork sausage until it’s nicely browned, about 5 – 6 minutes, breaking it up with your spoon.
Remove the sausage from the skillet into a bowl and set aside Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add the red wine and deglaze the skillet, scraping up all of the little bits.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and sugar, stir well to combine.
Add the sausage back to the skillet and simmer for 20 minutes.
While the tomato mixture is simmering, cook the pasta according to the package directions but 2 minutes short of the cooking time. Drain and keep warm.
Add the ricotta and the mozzarella to the skillet and stir well to combine.
Add the pasta to the sauce, stir well. Spoon into a casserole dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Note to cooks:
You can substitute Pecorina Romano cheese for the Parmesan if you like.
If it seems like you need more liquid after the 20 minutes of simmering, add a little more red wine, the mixture should not be dry.
If you like a little heat to your pasta, add some red chili flakes along with your herbs. You can also use fresh herbs, you will need 3 times the amount of fresh herbs to dry herbs.
