Cooking with Love
with Gianna Conte (Jan)
Anna's Loaded Baked Ziti
My mom, Anna made the besr baked ziti. She loaded it up with baby meatballs. I cheat by slicing regular size meatballs.
Ingredients:
Marinara Sauce, get recipe from my blog menu
16 oz shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese (I use Locatelli)
1- 16 oz box of ziti, rigatoni, or penne, cooked al dente in salted water and drained well
4-6 cooked meatballs (sliced) or 20 mini cooked meatballs
Use 13 x 9 baking dish or pan. Layer the bottom of pan with marinara sauce. Add 2 cups cooked pasta. Ladle with marinara sauce. Add 2-3 sliced meatballs to pasta. Add grated cheese, and a layer of shredded mozarella. Repeat the layers, making sure you're using plenty of marinara sauce covering ever pasta piece. The top layer should have the marinara sauce and then the grated cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees in oven on the middle rack. Place prepared pan on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow of sauce.
Let bake for approximately 45 minutes. Broil for 5 minutes, watching it very closely, avoiding a completely covered burned surface.
Allow to sit before enjoying. The longer it sits, the better it is to keep from falling apart.
Enjoy with a glass of cabernet!
