Baked Ziti With Meatballs

 

Earlier in the week, I made a meatball parmesan. It turned out delicious but as usual, I made enough for an army, and with none of the kids home, we had a substantial amount of leftovers in the fridge. 
I immediately thought of making a Baked Ziti with the leftovers and finally got around to it yesterday for dinner.

I like many types of baked Zitis. My favorite being the Baked Ziti Siciliano. But in this recipe, I wanted the Ziti to be about the meatballs. So this baked Ziti is a very simple, basic baked Ziti. Not even the standard addition of a Ricotta Cheese. 

I started by taking apart the meatball parm. Separating the meatballs from the sauce. I then put the sauce in a saucepan. To that leftover sauce, I added a 24 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. I prefer crushed tomatoes to a sauce because it taste more like fresh tomatoes. I just get the plain crushed tomatoes. Not the type with basil added. I am not a fan of any commercial tomatoes or sauces with basil added to them. I think that they use way to much basil in them. 

I like to add my spices to taste. Some crushed garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, a touch of fresh basil that's chopped, some hot pepper flakes, and one spice that I get off of Amazon, ground Fennel. I like the ground Fennel in my sauce because it is not only a healthy herb for the digestive system but it also adds that Italian sausage flavor without the added fat of the addition of sausage. It also compliments meatballs. 

Boiling up some pasta is a no brainer. We have actually been using the Ronzoni brand lately because they came out with a pasta that cooks in 3 minutes instead of ten. 

Now I know I call this Baked Ziti so sue me if you want, but I don't really use Ziti pasta for my baked Ziti. I use Rigatoni. Rigatoni is the same shape and size as a Ziti pasta except it has ridges on its surface which I like. These ridges hold onto the sauce. 

While the pasta cooks, I slice up the meatballs getting 3 slices from each and also shred up 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese. 

After I drain my Rigatoni, I put it back in the pan and add my sauce reserving about 3/4 of a cup. Give it a good mixing to combine the pasta and the sauce. 

I top the Ziti like I would a pizza with the mozzarella cheese and the slices of meatballs. 
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. About 20 minutes into the baking time I cover the casserole dish with a sheet pan to prevent the top of the baked Ziti from getting burnt. 
The reason that I bake the Ziti for as long as I do is that I want to form a crispy crust where the Ziti touches the casserole dish. That's the best part to me That crispy pasta. 

I like to let the Baked Ziti sit for about 10 minutes before I cut into it after it comes out of the oven. That lets the cheese set up and makes for easy slicing when serving. 

Enjoy with a nice salad and a nice bread with butter. I didn't show it in my picture above but I usually add a little extra sauce on the plate when serving this dish so that it's there for the bread to sop up.