Baked Ziti

By pinkadidas178

Ingredients

• Tomato Sauce:
• 1.5 pound dried ziti pasta
• Kosher salt
• 3 1/2 cups Quick Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
• 1 pound mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground spicy Italian sausages
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• thyme
• basil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Details

Adapted from google.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain.

Toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, cubed mozzarella, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Tomato Sauce:
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste.