Skillet Baked Ziti

Ingredients and Equipment Needed

This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.

• Italian sausage – Pork, turkey, sweet (mild), hot (spicy), links in casings, or packaged in bulk, it will all work here! You can also choose to make this meatless and skip the sausage entirely.
• Whole peeled tomatoes – This recipe calls for using whole tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor as opposed to a can of crushed tomatoes.  The recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated, and if you follow America’s Test Kitchen, you know there’s always a long scientific reasoning behind it. That being said, if you have a can of crushed tomatoes, I’d say don’t let that stop you from making this, I’m sure it would be just fine.
• Olive oil
• Fresh garlic
• Red pepper flakes – This is not a spicy dish. The red pepper flakes add a nice kick of flavor without being spicy.
• Salt
• Ziti – This is a tube-shaped variety of pasta, but you could certainly sub in a different kind if needed. I’m actually using rigatoni here because my store was out of ziti. Anything with little ridges is great because they help hold onto the sauce.
• Heavy cream – Cream adds richness, depth, and substance to the sauce.  I personally wouldn’t substitute it with anything else.
• Parmesan cheese
• Fresh basil leaves – fresh is best, but if you need to sub dried, use a heaping tablespoon of dried basil and add it in with the tomatoes.
• Ground black pepper
• Mozzarella cheese – Shredded. Whole milk mozzarella is especially yummy.
• Large skillet with lid – 12-inch minimum, although a little bigger is better! Pick a pan that can go from the stovetop to the oven to save on dishes. If you don’t have one, you can always prep everything in a pan with a lid, and then transfer it to a baking dish, top with cheese and bake to finish, or even just put the lid on and let it sit on the stovetop to melt the cheese.

How to Make Skillet Baked Ziti

1. Remove sausage from casings if using link sausage and cook until browned. Add a generous amount of fresh garlic and some red pepper flakes.
2. After those sauté for a minute, add some canned tomatoes. Then add some water; this is the cooking liquid for the pasta.
3.  You’ll want to cover it up to trap in that moisture at this point so the pasta can cook.  Pop the lid on, but peek in frequently and stir things around.  You’ll see the pasta isn’t completely submerged in the liquid so that’s why it takes longer than just boiling pasta in water.  It will absorb almost all of the cooking liquid.
4. When the pasta is tender, add in a little cream and freshly grated parmesan cheese. 
5. Then it’s all finished off with some fresh basil and mozzarella cheese and then placed in the oven just to melt it all together. Pair it with a simple salad for a filling, balanced dinner.  It would even be totally appropriate for company.  Everyone loves a good Italian dish!

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