Instructions

How to Make Baked Ziti

How To Make Baked Ziti Step by Step – Sarina Lepore, Erin Welch, Logan Scott, Nya Greene

These are instructions for how to make baked ziti. These instructions were created for beginners who need detailed instructions on how to create this dish. However, any one of any skill level can use these step-by-step instructions to become a master at making baked ziti.

Ingredients and Materials
Ingredients and Materials for the recipe/instructions below. Pictured above for the ingredients, there is a box of ziti pasta, a container of grated cheese, a block of mozzarella cheese and a salt shaker. For the materials, there is a small cutting board, a serrated knife, a foil tin, and a strainer.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ziti pasta
  • mozzarella cheese block
  • 3 cups spaghetti sauce 
  • 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 
  • salt shaker

Materials:

  • 13”x9” Casserole pan or foil tin
  • PAM Cooking Spray
  • Large Pot (8 quarts)
  • Small Pot (3 quarts)
  • Strainer
  • Medium sized cutting board 
  • Serrated knife
  • Wooden spoon
  • Ladle 

Instructions: 

Stove placed on burner filled 3/4 of the way
Stove placed on burner filled 3/4 of the way

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350o F

    Step 2: Place large pot on stove top burner filled ¾’s of the way with water

    • a. Put burner on medium-high heat
    • b. Add pinch of salt to water

    Step 3: Bring water to boil, look for bubbling water

    • a. While waiting for the water to come to a boil, cut cheese into thin slices (about ¾ of the block)
      Cheese cut into thin slices while waiting for water to boil
      Cheese cut into thin slices while waiting for water to boil

      Step 4: Place 1 box of ziti into boiling water and cook pasta until it is halfway cooked- approximately 5-6 minutes

      • a. Every 1-2 minutes stir the pasta around the water with wooden spoon about 3-5 times, ensuring it is not sticking to the bottom of the pot
        Ziti pasta poured into pot of boiling water
        Ziti pasta poured into pot of boiling water

        Step 5: At the same time, simmer your tomato sauce in the small pot on medium to low heat until ziti is ready to be constructed

        Tomato sauce is simmering while pasta is cooking
        Tomato sauce is simmering while pasta is cooking

        Step 6: Pour water and pasta into strainer in order to clear water from pasta, and then return pasta to large pot

        Straining water from pasta
        Straining water from pasta

        Step 7: Add half of your sauce to the pasta pot and stir with a ladle. This helps the ziti be less dry after it’s baked

        • a. Ensure all ziti noodles are covered with sauce
        This is what pasta should look like after adding half of the sauce to it and mixing
        This is what pasta should look like after adding half of the sauce to it and mixing

        Step 8: Spray a 13×9 casserole pan with PAM cooking spray, ensuring all areas are covered

        • a. If your casserole dish is a tin foil you can skip this step as the pasta will not stick to the foil

        Step 9: Pour a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish, about ½ a cup

        • a. Pour half of the ziti on top of the sauce in the casserole dish
        This is half of the ziti spread across the bottom of dish
        This is half of the ziti spread across the bottom of dish

        Step 10: Place a layer of mozzarella slices onto the top of the baked ziti casserole dish 

        Cheese being placed on top of ziti
        Cheese being placed on top of ziti

        Step 11: Sprinkle the top of the ziti mixture with half of the total grated parmesan cheese across the entirety of the casserole dish 

        Grated cheese placed on top of the cheese slices
        Grated cheese placed on top of the cheese slices

        Step 12: Spread another layer of sauce on top of the cheese layer

        Step 13: Then spread the other half of the pasta on top, followed by another layer of the remaining sauce, then a layer of mozzarella cheese slices, and lastly the last of the grated parmesan cheese

        Step 14: Put the casserole dish into the oven on the top shelf and bake the Baked Ziti in the oven for 30-45 minutes

        Ziti placed on top rack of oven
        Ziti placed on top rack of oven

        a. Wait for cheese to golden brown, crisp and melted

        b. Turn off oven and let sit for 15 minutes to cool 

        Final Product! Enjoy!
        Final Product! Enjoy!

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