Today I'm making baked ziti once again, but this time instead of my standard ziti recipe I'm making Grandpa Alesiano's recipe, which changes up a couple things. I should explain that first, he was my Great Uncle George. But after the passing of his brother, my Grandfather (Nonno), he married my Grandmother, and so also inherited the title of Granpda (Nonno) Alesiano. Everyone still called him Uncle George.
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| Julian's Baked Ziti from Nonno Alesiano Partially Assembled - Layer of Cheese and Pesto Shown |
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| Plated |
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| Fresh from the Oven |
In this recipe, the sauce includes pepperoni. He would often add pepperoni (sometimes a whole stick without slicing) just to give the sauce extra flavor. He saved that piece of cooked pepperoni as his own special treat for later. For his baked ziti, the pasta is separated into to two batches in-between which is a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and basil pesto. That's also what makes is Nonno Alesiano's recipe.
Make Ahead: This dish is easy to prepare ahead. You can make the sauce up to three days in advance and the day before it can be assembled and then refrigerated until you are read to bake it the next day. Do remove it from the refrigerator two hours in advance of baking to allow it to warm up a bit. Baking time will also be increased so use a instant read thermometer to test the center before removing from the oven. For the below recipe, I'm making the sauce in the morning and allowing it to simmer all day. Then moving right on to make the baked ziti about an hour before the planned meal begins.
Pesto Sauce: While you can purchase the pesto sauce, nothing beats homemade. Every fall when my basil plant begins to get woody, I cut it down and remove all of the leaves and turn them into pesto. Then I portion each into a 2-tablespoon mold and freeze them. Once solid, I wrap and place in a freezer back and have available all fall and winter. You can find my recipe here.
Servings: You typically need 2 ounces of dry pasta per adult when estimating how much pasta to prepare. The sauce below will easily make a large baked ziti, with plenty left to top each serving. Today I'm making 1 pound (16 ounces) of pasta as I'm serving 8 for dinner. You can scale this up to serve 12 adults, making 1 1/2 pounds (24 ounces) of pasta.
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
1 large onion
3 celery stalks
1 head fresh garlic
1 cup red or white wine
1 28-ounce can of San Marzano crushed or chopped tomatoes
1 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can of San Marzano tomato paste
1 cup or more of mushrooms, sliced or quartered (optional)
6-8 ounces thick cut (hand sliced) pepperoni
2 tablespoons dry, chopped basil
1 tablespoon dry, chopped oregano
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 to 1 1/2 pounds dry ziti pasta
16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (sliced by hand thin)
(typically sold in 8 ounce balls in the USA)
16 tablespoons basil pesto
4 ounces grated parmesan for topping/serving
Instructions
Chop the onion and celery. (I use a food processor for this and chop the celery and onion together.) Then chop the garlic separately. Set all aside. (You can also do this by hand, but you want these finely chopped, which is quicker and easier to achieve with a food processor or other tool.)
In a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and sausage on all sides. Add the chopped onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until tender. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan and continue to cook for about 5 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Add the tomatoes (crushed/chopped, sauce and paste). One by one, rinse each can starting with the paste, with water and transfer to the next can until all cans have been rinsed of extra ingredients and the last large can is full of tomato water. Pour the tomato water into the pot. Stir to combine and add the optional mushrooms, pepperoni, basil, oregano and white sugar. Stir to combine. When the pot begins to slightly bubble, reduce temperature to medium-low and stir periodically to insure it doesn't stick or burn. Reduce to a lower temperature if need until the liquid just slightly bubbles (simmers). Cook stirring occasionally for 4-8 hours. Taste and correct seasoning if needed. (Turn off, allow to cool, then refrigerate if not using until later.)
Boil the pasta in salted water until just al dente, about 10 minutes per the package directions. Drain and rinse. Return to empty pot. Add several ladles of the pasta sauce and stir to combine. The pasta should be fairly wet with the sauce.
In a large 9 x 12 inch (1 pound of ziti) or 11 x 17 inch baking dish (1 1/2 pounds of ziti) spread some sauce on the bottom. Add half of the sauced pasta to the baking dish. Lay the fresh mozzarella cheese on the pasta. Spoon on and spread the basil pesto evenly. Top with the remainder of the sauced ziti. Sprinkle the top with grated parmesan cheese.
Bake in a 350F degree oven for 30-45 minutes until it begins to bubble in the center. Remove from oven and allow to rest on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Serve with some additional grated parmesan and chopped basil or dried parsley.
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