No Ordinary Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti.  A simple hotdish familiar to many American households, but its tastiness can vary greatly and tend towards mediocrity.  

This version hails from a Cooks Illustrated article. The America's Test Kitchen team takes recipes and re-hashes them usually 50+ different ways to find, what they deem, the perfect recipe.  Their recipes tend to be reliably delicious, but also obnoxiously complicated or tediously long.  But always amazing! And this is no different. 

Their strategy for Baked Ziti involves using cottage cheese, to make for flavory, pillowy cheese pieces, rather than ricotta, which when stirred in, can turn grainy and tasteless.  Another method is to use chunks of mozzarella, rather than shredded, so there are pockets of melty cheese.  Then for the sauce, they make a red sauce and alfredo, for a richer flavor than just red sauce alone.

So when you're in the mood to do more than throw noodles, jarred pasta sauce and mozzarella in a pan and bake it to death, this is the recipe for you.  Its involved, but the end product is gooey cheese, correctly-cooked noodles, yummy sauce.  

So here are the usual suspects, plus a few others.

Grate 1.5 c parmesan.

Lightly beat 2 eggs.

Whisk eggs, cottage cheese and 1 c Parmesan together, then set aside for later.

Boil water in large dutch oven.

Boils faster with a lid!
I find it funny, the recipe says to add 1 Tbsp salt and pasta together, rather than salting the water first, which people do to make it boil faster--huh.

While your water's boiling, mince or garlic press 5-ish garlic cloves.

When I use my press, I end up with a big chunk of the garlic skin after pressing each clove, but I just throw it in with the rest and haven't noticed a difference.

Chop the basil; I just used the entire small container of basil I bought, because any time I save a a few leaves of fresh herbs, they just go bad in my produce drawer!  The amounts came out about the same, I decided.

Water is boiling!
Add 1 Tbsp salt.

Then 1 lb Ziti or other short, tubular pasta and cook until just al dente, 5-7 min.
I cooked mine closer to 7 min, and the noodles seemed a little over done in the end, so don't be afraid to leave them firm--the dish bakes an hour in the oven, so it takes care of any remotely crunchy noodles!

Drain in colander and set aside.
Do not rinse out dutch oven.
We'll use it for another sauce in a bit, and leaving the pasta water residue helps it thicken.
That's never a problem for me,  I never think to "do dishes as I go".

In large skillet, heat olive oil and garlic for 2 min, to soften but not brown the garlic.

While garlic and oil are heating, prepare these guys:
1 tsp oregano
28 oz can tomato sauce (or 2 (15 oz) cans)
14.5 oz can diced tomatos

Stir in.

Bring to a simmer, then simmer for about 10 min, until thickens.

If you have a splatter screen, now's the time to break it out.
Especially if you have a white stove.

While sauce is simmering, gather 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 c chopped basil.

When 10 min are up, add sugar and basil.

Salt and pepper to taste.
I over-salted, and then burned my tongue trying to taste it.
Remember this was simmering just a minute ago and taste with discretion.
Remove from heat and set aside.

Now for the other sauce.
Combine 1 c heavy cream and 3/4 tsp cornstarch in bowl
Or if using whole milk, increase cornstarch to 2 tsp and simmer 2 extra minutes later on.

If you, too, have a *helper*, let her/him keep stirring while you work on the next steps.
It also entertains the baby!

Chop the cheese!
That sounds like a euphemism.

There is a really great brand that carries Whole Milk Mozzarella, that slips my mind, but its located on the top shelf of the regular cheese section at Cub.  I used regular part-skim mozzarella, and it was fine, but not as awesome and melty as whole-milk mozz.

Recover cream/cornstarch mixture from said *helper* and bring to a simmer in unclean Dutch oven.
Simmer 3-4 min, until thickened.

Meanwhile gather the cottage cheese mixture, half the chopped mozzarella (3/4 c) and 1 c tomato sauce.

Remove cream mixture from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, mozz and sauce.

Stir to combine.
Mmm boy.

Pour into 9x13 pan.

Pour tomato sauce over pasta.
Then dot with remaining mozzarella.
Sprinkle remaining parmesan.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees x 30 min.

Remove foil and continue to bake another 30 min, until bubbling and cheese begins to brown.

Cool 20 min, or not.

Eat. 

And love those pillowy pockets of cheese!

Baked Ziti

Serves 8-10

1 lb whole milk or 1% cottage cheese
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3 oz grated Parmesan cheese (about 1.5 c)
Table salt
1 lb Ziti or other short, tubular pasta
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
5 med garlic cloves, minced or pressed (about 5 tsp)
1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup pus 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tsp sugar
Ground black pepper
3/4 tsp corn starch
1 c heavy cream (or if whole milk, increase corn starch to 2 tsp and cook 1-2 min longer)
8 oz whole milk mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside.
Bring 4 qts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat.
Stir in 1 Tbsp salt and pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta just softens, 5-7 min.
Drain pasta and leave in colander; do not wash Dutch oven.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in 12-inch skillet ove rmed heat until garlic is fragrant, but not brown, about 2 min.
Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 min.
Off heat, stir in 1/2 c basil and sugar, then season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl; transfer mixture to now-empty Dutch oven.
Bring to simmer over med heat; cook until thickened, 3-4 min, then remove from heat.
Add cottage cheese mixture, 1 c tomato sauce and 3/4 c mozzarella; stir to combine.
Add pasta and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce.

4. Transfer pasta mixture to 9x13 baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce over pasta.
Sprinkle remaining 3/4 c mozzarella and remaining 1/2 c Parmesan over top.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 min.
Remove foil and bake 30 min longer, until bubbling and cheese beginning to brown.
Cool for 20 min.
Sprinkle with remaining 2 tbsp basil and serve.