Baked ziti with ground beef
Saucy ziti tossed with beefy marinara and pockets of ricotta, baked under a golden layer of mozzarella.
- 55 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 8
- About $2.21 a serving
- 580 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 lb ziti
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- ½ cup grated parmesan, divided
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Each serving has about 580 calories, 32 g protein, 57 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $2.21 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No ricotta cheese? Cottage cheese works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F. Fill a large pot with water, add the salt, and set it on high to come .
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Heat the oil in a large over medium, add the onion, and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef, and cook 6 to 7 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink is left. Spoon off the fat.
Medium-high heatTimer: 6 min 30 sec
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning and pepper flakes, if you like, for 30 seconds, then the marinara and tomato sauce. Turn the heat to low and 5 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
While the sauce , cook the ziti 2 minutes less than the package says, then and return it to the pot.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: It finishes cooking in the oven. Fully cooked now means mushy later.Stir about three quarters of the sauce into the pasta, then spoonfuls of the ricotta, 1 cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup parmesan.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Spread it in a 9x13-inch baking dish, spoon the rest of the sauce over it, and top with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and in spots. Let it sit 5 minutes before serving.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 22 min 30 sec
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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