Wow, this made so much food! We made some changes to the dish, and it was amazing! We only baked it for 35 minutes because the cheese on top was getting overdone on 350 degrees F. We used turkey instead of sausage and added 2 cloves of garlic and a half cup of yellow onion to spice up the turkey. Also we used 1 jar of Emmeril's "Roasted Red Pepper" sauce in addition to one jar of the marinara. Using only 3 cups of cheese instead of 4 made us feel better about the high fat content. But we used italian cheese instead of just plain mozzarella. It was excellent, and now we have food for days!
This truly is the Best Ziti Ever. It makes an enormous amount of food, so this would be great to take to a pot luck dinner or just to serve a large family. The smell while it was cooking was absolutely divine. I felt like I was at an Italian restaurant. This dish is restaurant quality. I didn't change a thing. It is perfect just the way it is. Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe.
Like others, I found this recipe made waaaaay more than I thought it would. I'm really glad I cut it in half, as there are only two of us :). I added some sauteed mushrooms to the sausage layers. I also mixed fresh basil in with the ricotta, and used oregano and marjoram instead of italian seasoning (I didn't have any). We both love anything with ricotta cheese, and the cheese was definitely a star in this dish. Even though it has pasta in it, I found that the leftovers were very good, not dry at all. It froze nicely, too. A delicious alternative to lasagna, I'll make this again for sure!
This dish definitely gets five stars for taste! Remember though that it takes MANY dirty pans and dishes (ie pasta sauce saute- three different pans) to make this. BUT - it could be done well in advance and then popped in the over since everything is cooked already and you are just reheating.
this is so good! its great to assemble beforehand then just cover with foil and pop it into the over for about an hour. i use sweet italian sausage and top wit grated quality parmesan. delicious meal that everyone loves!
This is a great recipe. I skiped the step to heat up the sauce it was not needed and I didn't want to dirty another pan. The left overs were great the next day too! Highly recommend!
Rating again....GREAT! Family still loves it and made it for the masses...awesome! Thanks again for a fab recipe! Yum!!!!!!!! I fed numerous neighbor kids...the family and a couple of other neighbors that stopped by for a glass of wine...wow. I did add a whole chopped onion some mushrooms and some garlic (about 3 cloves)...this IS the recipe...I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and will do so next time too! I'm making that when the in-laws come next week...thanks SO much!!!!!
I really liked this recipe, and it was awesome the next day too! What I did was instead of layering everything I mixed it all together and added 3 eggs (lightly beaten)on top and then added the cheese. The eggs give it an excellent flavour! Thanks for this great recipe!
Tasty! I made a healthier version using whole wheat pasta low fat ricotta and shredded chicken rather than sausage. I also added parmesan to the mozzarella for a little more flavor and turned the broiler on during the last 2 minutes so the cheese on top browned nicely.
i was so excited to make this after reading other reviews. unfortunately it was a bust. it LOOKED great but lacked flavor. not making again.
