Baked Ziti

5 from 2 votes

Easy baked ziti recipe with creamy ricotta, mozzarella, and roasted cherry tomato sauce. Perfect for dinner or meal prep!

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Halal

Servings:

Author: Rena

Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a baking dish, toss the 1 medium sweet onion (diced), 4-6 garlic cloves, 3 cups cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and seasonings (1 teaspoon sea salt and 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning). You may also add some black pepper at this point if you like.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tomatoes burst. Remove from the oven and let it slightly cool. Transfer to a food processor together with the 2/3 cup ricotta cheese and blend until smooth.
While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the 12 ounces ziti pasta in salted water according to package directions.
To assemble the dish, toss the cooked ziti and ricotta sauce in a baking dish and sprinkle with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Serving size: about 2 cups or 3 ounces of pasta.
Pasta: Use any other short pasta of your choice.
Cheese: There are other varieties of cheeses you can use. Instead of the ricotta cheese, you can use cream cheese. Instead of the shredded mozzarella, you can use provolone, gruyere, cheddar, etc.
Don’t Overcook the Pasta: Cook it al dente since it’ll continue cooking in the oven.

Blend the Sauce Smooth: For the creamiest finish, blend the roasted tomatoes well.

Cheese Lovers Unite: Feel free to pile on extra mozzarella for an even cheesier top layer.