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Authentic Baked Ziti with Meat Sauce
Baked ziti is a typical recipe of the Neapolitan tradition and of Southern Italy in general. It's a rich and tasty casserole made with ziti pasta, usually paired with meat sauces.What are ziti? They are a smooth durum wheat pasta format shaped like a "tube" about 25 cm long (~10 inch). They are similar to bucatini, but larger.
Ingredients
- 250 g ziti ~½ pound
- 200 g sausage 7 oz, pork
- 150 g beef ~5 oz, ground
- 150 g provolone cheese ~5 oz, smoked
- 400 g tomato passata 1 ¾ cup
- 1 onion small
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil Extra Virgin
- 2 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- 20 g butter ~⅕ stick, unsalted
Instructions
The Meat Sauce
- Chop the onion and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until soft. Meanwhile, remove the skin from the sausage and mix half of it (about 100 g-3.5 oz) with the ground beef. Set the remaining sausage aside. When the onion is well done, add the meat and sausage and mix well to brown.
- Increase the heat slightly and add the tomato passata. Season lightly with salt, cover and simmer over moderate heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the Ziti
- While the meat sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil in which you will cook the ziti. Cook the ziti in boiling, lightly salted water. PLEASE NOTE: You can leave them whole and cut them later when you are making the layers. Or you can break them in half to make them soak more easily.
- Drain the ziti al dente and set aside. Consider a few minutes less than the time indicated on the package. In fact, this way the ziti will not be too mushy after a second cooking in the oven. Cut the smoked scamorza into slices or cubes, as you prefer, and set aside.
The Layers
- Grease the bottom of the baking dish with a little oil and arrange the first layer of ziti as evenly as possible. Arrange the ziti next to each other. If, like me, you have a baking dish that is slightly smaller than the length of the ziti, cut them off and use the scraps to fill in the gaps.
- Top the layer of ziti with the meat sauce and slices of smoked provolone.
- Add a few pieces of the raw sausage you set aside. Then top with the ziti. Repeat this process for three layers or until you run out of ingredients. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using a lower, wider baking pan, make two layers; if you are using a tall baking pan, make up to four layers.
Baking
- Finish with a layer of meat sauce, topped with plenty of grated Parmigiano cheese and a few knobs of butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) for about 20 minutes. For the last two minutes of baking, turn on the grill and let the pasta gratinate. A crisp and appetizing crust will form on the surface, while the ziti will be soft and stringy inside.
Nutrition
Calories: 798kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 35gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 721mgPotassium: 899mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1023IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 363mgIron: 4mg
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