Are you tired of the same old ziti recipes that always call for a hefty dose of ricotta cheese? Or is ricotta cheese just a turn-off for you? (I can’t stand the stuff!) Well, prepare to be amazed by this ziti recipe that will have your taste buds singing with joy – and the best part? No ricotta cheese is required! Imagine layers of perfectly cooked pasta, decadent sauce, and gooey melted cheese without a hint of ricotta in sight. This twist on a classic dish is sure to leave you wondering why you ever needed ricotta in the first place.

1. 9×13 Baking Dish
2. Saute Pan

1. Ziti, Rigatoni, or Penne dry pasta (or make your pasta!)
2. Onion
3. Ground Meat
4. Mozzarella Cheese
5. Marinara Sauce
6. Provolone Cheese
7. Sour Cream
8. Parmesan Cheese

Directions for Baked Ziti

Dice an onion. Add it to your ground meat in the saute pan and cook until the meat is done and the onions are translucent.

Cover the whole thing with the marinara sauce of your choice.

Cook your pasta. We used the Instant Pot to make this quick and easy. For some reason we can never find Ziti, so we tend to use Rigatoni in this recipe.

Now for the fun part! Layering! Start with a layer of half of the pasta.

Next comes the provolone. We like provolone on our sandwiches so it is just easy for us to use it here. Plus it is super quick to throw on 6 slices.

Sour cream is next and it is super messy. Blob it on and spread it around. Don’t worry, after it cooks, it tends to even out.

Add half of your meat, onions, and sauce mixture for the next layer.

The next layer is the rest of your pasta. We didn’t cook as much of the pasta as the recipe called for which gave us a lighter layer.

Mozzarella cheese is the next layer. We like our cheese so this layer is thick!

Cover with the rest of your meat, onion, and sauce mixture.

The final eighth layer is parmesan cheese. Yes, more cheese!

Cook the whole thing and you will have a scrumptious baked ziti to enjoy!

We enjoyed ours with a slice of garlic bread!

Until next time,
Hubby

Baked Ziti

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Equipment

• 1 9×13 Baking Dish
• 1 Saute Pan

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb Ziti, Rigatoni, or Penne dry pasta
• 1 Onion Diced
• 1 lb Ground Meat (We use turkey)
• 6 oz Mozzarella Cheese
• 2×26 oz Marinara Sauce
• 6 oz Provolone Cheese (or 6 cheese slices)
• 1½ cups Sour Cream
• 2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350℉.
• Lightly grease 9×13 baking dish.
• Cook pasta per directions.
• Cook onion and meat until done.
• Add marinara sauce to the onion and meat mixture.
• Layer in the baking dish in the following order:

  1. ½ Pasta

  2. Provolone

  3. Sour Cream

  4. ½ Sauce Mixture

  5. Remaining Pasta

  6. Mozzarella

  7. Remaining Sauce Mixture

  8. Parmesan Cheese
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes

Keyword Baked Ziti, Ziti