Baked Ziti

A comfort dish for sure, Baked Ziti is one of my favorites, of course it's a pasta dish. Baked Ziti easy to prepare and even tastes better the next day when all of the flavor have melded together. This recipe goes well with, garlic bread, a big leafy Caesar salad or even a simple side as broccolini.

Ingredients

1 pound of ziti

4 cloves of garlic

1 pound of Italian sausage, removed from casing. ( I use chicken Italian sausage)

15 ounces of ricotta cheese

1 pound of fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped

26 ounce jar of marinara sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 400˙ Cook pasta so it is al dente. Set aside. In a skillet crumble your sausage along with your garlic on med high heat until cooked through. In a large bowl toss the pasta with the meat mixture along with the marinara sauce, basil, ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer mixture to a large baking dish that is lightly greased with olive oil. Sprinkle the top of your pasta dish with extra parmesan . Bake until bubbly and golden brown about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!