I made a minor error in my meal planning this week, I pretty much based all my meals off of grilling of some sort. That doesn’t exactly work out so well when it’s a rainy week and your grill is not sheltered. Luckily I had at least one non-grilling dinner planned so the other day became rainy day baked ziti.

I was out of my homemade sauce with no time to make more so I just used a jarred sauce this time. With the addition of all of the different cheeses, you really couldn’t tell the difference. The melted cheeses gave it a ton of delicious flavor, yum! This recipe is just the way I like it, super simple and super tasty. I’ll be adding this to my regular rotation of favorites.

Baked Ziti

From Food Network.com

Ingredients:

1 pound box of ziti pasta
Kosher salt
3 & 1/2 cups marinara pasta sauce of your choice
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano
1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper or to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until tender but still slightly firm. Drain.

2. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the pecorino, and the cubed mozzarella pieces. Season with the black pepper and red pepper to taste, and mix until well combined.

3. Transfer the pasta to an oiled baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until lightly browned.