Meatless Baked Ziti with Ricotta and Mozzarella

This meatless baked ziti is a simple, yet hearty dish the whole family will love!  Ziti pasta is combined with sweet tomato sauce, creamy ricotta, melty mozzarella, and salty Pecorino Romano cheese, and then baked until bubbly and just the slightest bit crisp.   If this isn’t the ultimate comfort food, I don’t know what is!

This is a meatless baked ziti recipe.  But with all the mozzarella and ricotta you will hardly notice the meat is missing!

If you desire a recipe with a meat sauce, check out our pasta al forno recipe.  It’s similar but uses a hearty beef and pork ragu and is a heavier dish than this one. 

Alternatively, you could use our classic Italian meatballs recipe and break them up into pieces and add to the sauce. 

The variations are really endless and you can certainly experiment and add additional ingredients, like roasted eggplant or zucchini, fontina cheese, or chopped spinach.

For this recipe, you will need plum tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, and onion for the sauce. 

Already have the sauce made?  Then, you’ll only need ricotta, mozzarella, Pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese, and ziti or any similar shaped pasta. 

We used pennoni.  Rigatoni and penne would be perfect as well.

How to make it

Note: The instructions start with the sauce already made.  Use our low and slow-cooked Sunday sauce recipe or a quick marinara (recipe provided below in recipe card).  If you’re really in a rush, you could use jarred sauce.  We will usually save left-over sauce and freeze it just for nights when we feel like a little baked ziti!

1. Grate about 1/3 of the mozzarella block for the top and cube the rest for the layers.
2. Cook pasta to very ‘al dente’ (about 2 minutes less than package instructions) and toss with about 2-3 cups of the sauce.

3. Mix the ricotta with the pasta and sauce.  Coat a large baking dish ( 4-5 quart is a perfect size) with a layer of sauce.  Add some of the mixed pasta and layer the mozzarella cubes on top of it.  Sprinkle some of the Pecorino Romano on top and a bit more sauce.  Repeat process for 2 more layers.  On the top add a bit more sauce and the grated mozzarella and more Pecorino Romano cheese.
4. Bake at 375-400f for 25-30 minutes until cooked through and the cheese is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes uncovered to firm up a bit. 

Serve baked ziti with a nice veggie side like Italian green beans.   Garlicky Italian broccoli or sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic and oil would also be perfect side dishes.

Substitutions and additions

• meat – Ground sausage removed from its casing can be added to the sauce for a nice kick.  And as mentioned above, beef and pork can easily be added to the sauce for a heartier dish.
• cheeses – Pecorino Romano was used but Parmigiano Reggiano can be substituted.  That’s a personal preference.  Ricotta is hard to substitute.  I’ve seen some info recommending cottage cheese, yogurt, or cream cheese.  Of the 3, cottage cheese is the closest but will lack the delicious creaminess of the ricotta.  For the mozzarella, feel free to substitute fresh mozzarella, but realize that it won’t melt quite as well.  For baked ziti, good old Polly-O brand block mozzarella is really hard to beat!
• pasta – Any tubular pasta works well.  Penne, rigatoni, casarecce, and tortiglioni are all great for this dish.
• eggplant – Roasted eggplant pieces mixed in with the cubes of mozzarella are absolutely amazing in this recipe.  For another great eggplant recipe check out this rigatoni alla Norma recipe.

Top tips

• Undercook the pasta!  Fully boiled pasta will become mushy after baking for another 30 minutes, so aim for ‘al dente’ or even a bit firmer.  About 2 minutes less than the box instructions.
• Put a nice layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish to avoid sticking.
• Add the pasta in layers with the cubes of mozzarella cheese distributed randomly.  This gives a better texture to the dish with a bigger bite of cheese in one spot than the other.  It’s not required, but a nice touch.
• Bake the pasta until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned on top.  If you desire, broil the top for 1-2 minutes to crisp it up right before serving, but watch carefully to avoid burning.  

Leftovers

Baked ziti is one of the best dishes to make ahead.  To reheat an already made batch just use the microwave. 

For an uncooked frozen batch, just bake the whole frozen prepared ziti in the oven at 375-400f until completely cooked through.  This takes around 60-90 minutes but just check to make sure it’s warmed all the way through.

More baked pasta

• Baked eggplant pasta – roasted eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella, and tomato sauce.
• White spaghetti pie – Spaghetti with fontina, Pecorino Romano, and black pepper baked until bubbly.
• Baked penne with Italian sausage – Penne with mozzarella, ricotta, Romano, and an easy sausage-tomato sauce.
• Spinach lasagna rolls with white sauce – Ricotta, mozzarella, and spinach with a bechamel sauce.
• Baked butternut squash pasta – Roasted squash and sage with penne, mozzarella, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Classic Italian-American lasagna – Layers of noodles, herbed ricotta, and hearty meat ragu.
• Creamy mushroom pasta bake – Fontina cheese, roasted mushrooms, spinach, thyme, ricotta, and just a hint of nutmeg.
• Stuffed shells with meat sauce – Spinach and ricotta nestled into shells and baked in a red sauce.
• Four cheese baked manicotti – Four kinds of cheese with meat sauce for the ultimate comfort food dish.

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