Baked Ziti

Unlike other recipes we’ve made in the last year, this recipe had no sweeping trend. No viral video to accompany it. No TikTok hype. This recipe was simply from a viewer and friend from chat, knightshousegames, who remarked offhandedly in another stream that he “makes a mean baked ziti” and stepped up to the challenge of providing a recipe for us to test on the show.

This is that same recipe lovingly provided by knightshousegames, but with a heavy helping of joystikNik magic in the form of more herbs, more spices, and obviously a metric ton of cheese. We also used vegetarian meat, but feel free to substitute an equal portion of real meat.

This big ol’ pasta casserole is rich, cheesy, and filling and makes about 15 servings.

You’ll need a 9”x13” baking dish to bake this in, else the cheesy goodness will melt out!

KOOV Bakeware Set, 3-Piece set

knightshousegames Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• 3 cups ziti noodles

• Sausage mixture

  • 1 pack (14 oz) Beyond Sausage Sweet Italian style

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  • 1/2 teaspoon black garlic

  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• Ricotta Mixture

  • 15 oz ricotta cheese

  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (roughly chopped)

  • 1 egg

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary

• 1 24oz jar garlic marinara sauce

• 1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

• 16 oz mozzarella cheese (shredded)

• Fresh basil leaves (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.

2. Boil noodles 1-2 minutes short of the recommended cook time.

3. Add olive oil to a large frying pan heated over medium. Add garlic, onion powder, black garlic and sausage. Fry until browned and remove from heat.

4. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, parsley, egg, sugar, salt, black pepper, and rosemary until combined.

5. Coat bottom of baking pan with a thin layer of marinara sauce.

6. Combine cooked noodles with the ricotta mixture, stirring until just mixed (without breaking too many noodles).

7. Layer the noodle/ricotta mixture on top of the sauce in the baking pan.

8. Add layer of Parmesan and mozzarella on top of that, followed by about half of the meat, then more sauce. Repeat once.

9. On top of that, place one final layer of Mozzarella and Parmesan.

10. optional - Lay 3-4 fresh basil leaves on top of final cheese layer.

11. Bake for 30-45 minutes (go the additional 15 if it isn’t quite golden brown on top)

12. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before dividing into servings, or you’ll just make a big mess