You know how sometimes baked ziti is good, and sometimes it’s REALLY good?

Today I’d like to introduce you to a REALLY GOOD BAKED ZITI.

This recipe has been tested and tweaked and loved and devoured many times over to get it just right. And I think we landed it. It’s minimal. It’s bubbly and browned, extra creamy, extra saucy, with just the right flavors and textures to make the whole thing into a baked pasta masterpiece.

It is simplicity at its finest: just chewy noodles, a deeply flavored tomato sauce, the right blend of melted cheese, and a creaminess that cuts the tang of tomato sauce as it oozes into every bite.

Does Baked Ziti Have Meat?

It depends.

Some recipes call for ground meat in the tomato sauce, and you can certainly add that here if you want. However, I wanted this to be a mostly-meatless baked ziti, so I skipped the ground meat.

We do have some pancetta in the sauce to give it a little extra flavor, but that could easily be omitted to make this a vegetarian baked ziti.

What About Ricotta Cheese?

Traditionally, yes.

In this recipe, no.

Many people (including myself) find that ricotta cheese that you buy from the store gets a little dry, crumbly, and – I’m sorry to say – gritty, once it gets baked in the oven in between all those pasta layers.

In all my testing and research of the best baked ziti recipes out there, I found that most recipes use one of three options for that middle creamy-cheesy layer.

Ricotta cheese (this is traditional, but it often gets dry)
Bechamel sauce (gets you the creaminess, but requires you to make yet another sauce)
Mascarpone cheese (super creamy, minimal effort)

I used mascarpone cheese as the middle creamy-cheesy layer in this baked ziti recipe because the texture is most luscious and creamy. And bonus – it’s extremely easy. I add some flavor to mine by salting it and grating a clove of fresh garlic in with it, and ooooooh yes. It is so good.

This is critical for getting the best possible creamy texture in between those cheese and noodle crevices, so don’t skip it!

What to Serve with Baked Ziti

Um, so glad you asked.

This can totally stand on it’s own as a meal and that’s how I roll for real-life dinners at home. But if you’re looking for to round this out into a more multi-dimensional meal or impress friends with a full blown dinner party spread, you could try:

Whether you finish this off with some cracked black pepper, fresh basil ribbons, or a swish of garlic oil, this melted cheesy, tomato sauce-y, perfectly creamy baked ziti heaven awaits you.