Baked Ziti and Homemade Pasta Sauce

My husband says that the only thing I make well is Ziti. I even make it better than my mother, who can do no wrong when it comes to cooking in his book.
The secret is to flavor the layers. Ziti has so many plain ingredients - ricotta, sauce, pasta, that you need to make sure that each ingredient has flavor or else you are stuck trying to flavor the whole thing at once. Which never works, and you always end up over-salting, or a least I do...

So when I was trying to think up of different things I could make with my silicon cubes (can you tell they are a staple in my cooking?) it came to me that I should make Ziti! All I would need to do is cut out the salt and we would be good to go.

As I was putting together my ingredient list, I realized that I would need to make my own sauce. I did some research and found multiple people saying that not only is it SO easy to make your own sauce, but it is super cost effective. I obviously believed them, but then again I had multiple burning incidents this week, so I wasn't convinced that it would be that easy.

Anyway the final product was awesome, and I even got the husband to say, "yeah, the kiddo will like these." There you go - husband seal of approval.

This is a two part recipe. I was doing these both simultaneously (always a risky move), but they can be done separately. The sauce freezes perfectly and can be used in different ways!

Ziti and Homemade Sauce 

What you need:

Small Sauce Pot
Medium Sauce Pot
Stick blender (or regular blender)
Bowl
Colander
Silicon Cube Tray

Pasta Sauce

1 28 oz can  of peeled, whole tomatoes

1 small onion 

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil
Optional - handful of spinach 

Ziti 

1 cup uncooked alphabets pasta  

1 cup ricotta

1 cup sauce 

1.5 oz mozzarella shredded 

Seasonings you prefer 

Let's Bake:

- Start by making your sauce first. Grab your small sauce pot and add in your whole tomatoes
- Slice a small onion in half, and put it in your sauce pot
- Peel 3 garlic cloves (more or less to your liking) and add that to your pot too
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- Bring the sauce to a boil (I like to do this on a medium heat to reduce splatter) then reduce your heat to a simmer.
- With a watchful eye let your sauce simmer for 45 minutes*, or until your onion halves can be easily pierced through (the onions should look transparent)

Almost done! The onions are looking transparent 

*While this is happening, lets make our ziti!

- Preheat your oven to 350
- In a different sauce pot bring about 3 cups of water to a boil
- Measure out 1 cup of uncooked alphabet pasta (I was looking for pasting, but this is all my grocery store had) and add it to boiling water

How cute are these?

- Let the pasta cook for about 8 minutes - it is ok if it is a little al dente, because it will be going into the oven to cook
- While the pasta is boiling grab a bowl
- In your bowl add 1 cup of ricotta, 1.5 ounces of Mozzarella (or more, there is never too much cheese in a ziti) and your seasonings. I used pepper, garlic powder, and an Italian seasoning mix.

- Mix your ingredients together.
- Once your pasta is done use your colander to drain the water and add the pasta it to your cheese mixture*

*Heading back to the sauce

- At this point I threw in a handful of spinach and let it wilt down - I wanted to sneak in some extra veggies!
- You can remove the onion and garlic, but I wanted to extra flavor
- Once the spinach wilted I took my stick blender and blended up the whole sauce pan - BE VERY CAREFUL! THE SAUCE IS HOT!

- And that is it! Sauce is made!*

*Once more, back to the Ziti

- Add 1 cup of your homemade sauce (small applause) to your cheese and pasta mixture.
- Evenly distribute your mixture into your silicon cup

- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until your desired doneness

These little morsels are a HUGE hit with my kiddo! I hope your kiddo enjoys them too!