Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

Close-up of cheesy baked pasta with sausage and mozzarella

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Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

Baked ziti (Rigatoni) is one of those comforting meals I come back to again and again—especially when cooking for my family. I’ve made this dozens of times, and I change it up depending on what’s in the fridge. I usually use rigatoni instead of ziti (it’s easier to find and I love the ridges!), but any tube pasta works well in this cheesy baked sausage casserole.

Prep Time15

1 5

Course: casserole, Main Course, Main dish

Servings: servings

Calories: 539Kcal

Author: Susan Moncrieff

Ingredients

1 pound Ziti or rigatoni pasta
1 pound ground beef cooked and crumbled I use 15% fat ground beef. Both ground beef and sausage can be browned together.
½ pound Italian sausage Mild or spicy depending on your family's preferences.
32 oz Marinara sauce Containers contain various sizes now! If you use anywhere from 28 - 32 oz, the recipe will be fine. I like Rao's brand.
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 cups Mozzarella Shredded. Reserve about ⅔ cup to sprinkle on top. If I have extra cheese at home, I'll sometimes add more to the top to make it cheesier.
½ cup Parmesan grated
2 Eggs to mix into ricotta and cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or oregano for the sauce and some to sprinkle on top.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Boil pasta (ziti, rigatoni, or your favorite tube pasta) until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and sausage. I brown them together. Drain excess grease. Add marinara sauce and oregano and simmer for a few minutes.
In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, half the mozzarella, and eggs.
In a large baking dish, layer as follows: about ⅓ of sauce on the bottom, then all the pasta, top the pasta with all the ricotta mixture, then add the balance of the tomato/meat sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.Some people like doing 2 layers of each but I have always just done it as above (it's easier and faster.)!
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10–15 minutes until bubbly and golden on top.

Nutrition (I am not a nutritionist. These are estimates only)