Baked Ziti with Meatballs (or without) is a classic comfort food pasta dish everyone loves. Baked with marinara sauce and lots of gooey, melted cheese, it's feel-good food at its best.
If making homemade pasta sauce instead of store-bought, get it started in the slow cooker in the morning. Add browned meatballs or cooked ground beef to the sauce if desired. If using jarred sauce, proceed to the next step.
In medium bowl, mix together ricotta cheese and egg. Stir in ¾ cup of mozzarella cheese and ¾ cup of Pepper Jack cheese. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In large pot, cook pasta about 1 minute less than package directions. Drain, return to pot. Add cheese mixture; stir in.
Add 4 cups of marinara sauce; stirring well to mix.
Spread pasta mixture into 13 x 9-inch baking dish (or larger/deeper if you have it). Spoon 2 additional cups of pasta sauce over the top .
Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Pepper Jack cheese over the top of the sauce.
Cover with foil, tenting the foil so that it won't stick to the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes; remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve with extra sauce and meatballs, if desired.
Notes
Penne or mostaccioli noodles can be used in place of ziti.
If shredding mozzarella cheese, choose a low-moisture block of cheese (usually located by the shredded cheese products), not the round wet mozzarella balls (by deli/bakery).
When shredding fresh cheese, cut each cheese block into sections and freeze. Frozen cheese resists gumming up and sticking to the blades!
Although I prefer making homemade tomato sauce, the jarred sauce is a time-saving and acceptable substitute, but you'll need a good quality sauce and plenty of it. (Try making my homemade Sunday Sauce.)
If making my Sunday Sauce recipe, instead of using fresh Roma tomatoes, you may substitute two 28-ounce jars of crushed tomatoes.
Find out more about the Hamilton Beach 8-Cup Stack and Snap Food Processor here.