Baked Ziti

Nana's Baked Ziti

When I first moved to Magnolia, Texas, I worked at a credit union in Houston, where they celebrated Diversity Day each year.

Diversity day is a day when we recognize and celebrate our cultural differences. 

Well, what makes me unique to "these people"? These Texans? 

I am from NJ, of Sicilian, Irish and German descent, and my family, both sides,  emigrated through New York.

That might not seem like a big deal, but to ME, it is everything.

Moving to Texas was the single most eye-opening event of my life.

I never realized how different I was until I plopped myself down in the middle of people that were nothing like me. Not to say there isn't cultural diversity in New jersey, there Is! By far, New Jersey is MUCH more diverse than Magnolia TX, or even the "Big City" of Houston. Sure there are several different cultures represented here, but not nearly as many variety as there are  in the New York-Metro area.  At the same time, there are not nearly as many Italian-Americans. So while I was used to Cultural Diversity, I was Not so used to Cultural Singularity. I admit, I had feelings of loneliness. When I heard about this Cultural Diversity day I was over-joyed to share a little piece of me in the form of a Baked Ziti.

Baked Ziti is a dish of pasta, cheese, and sauce that is baked.

 For MY family, Ziti is something that is traditionally served on holidays, as its cooking process from start to finish is time consuming, but it can be prepared in advance. This is the secret to those giant dinner spreads Italian families are Known for- Make Ahead Dishes. Yup.

So, when I talk about ziti I want you to know that I AM the self-proclaimed expert. But only as far as my very own family and experiences.

I have to be honest, I don't even know if Baked Ziti is actually something made in Italy.

 What I DO know is that MY Italian-American family, that came through Ellis island and settled in New York, then the next generation in New Jersey, I know WE consider Baked Ziti to be a very special dish. So, for cultural diversity day I made it with great excitement and brought it in and shared it. It was well-received, and my coworkers made me feel accepted by asking a lot of questions about my dish and my culture.  I'd like to share it with you all too, and I'm glad to put it up on the Internet for y'all, but also as a permanent place for my own people, my daughters any my future grand children to be able to retrieve it long after I'm gone.  Its THAT special to me. 

I have planned to share it for well over a year, and have only been waiting for my mother to visit so we could do this project together.

Jersey Girl and Jersey Nana

 Of course, like all families, I have  learned to cook all of the traditional dishes of importance from my mom. My girls have learned from me. This is the way of the world and a chain that I hold dear and pray is never broken until the end of time.
 So Mom/Nana came to visit last month, we shopped together and cooked together with my 3 girls, I took a few (hundred)  pictures, and I wrote down our family recipe as we went along. Yeah. This recipe wasn't written down. We just do it. How precarious is that??? Kinda scary to think there could have been an apocalypse that wiped  us out and the ziti would be gone forever. 

Well, not really, as ALL Italian New Yorkers make almost this exact same recipe.. But I will sleep better knowing its up on the blog and printed in triplicate in the fire safe. So, here it is:

Baked Ziti

1. Meatballs

2.Sauce

3.Cheese mixture

4.Pasta

Start with meatballs

1 lb (80/20) ground beef or sirloin.

1/2 ground pork

2 to 2 1/2 cups coarse breadcrumbs

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tablespoons parsley

2 tsps Italian seasoning*

       *see my blend*

2 eggs

Mix it up. Make small meatballs, about the size of a gum ball. Line on greased foil-covered cookie sheet and bake on 325 for about 12 to 15 min. Lift foil from pan and pour into sauce, then bake next tray.. And follow until done.

After I roll out all of the meatballs, this is about 3 cookie sheets full, I pop the first batch in and have just enough time to get the sauce going while the meatballs cook. 

Ziti sauce

*I'm calling it "Ziti Sauce" because its different from spaghetti sauce or Sunday Gravy. This is such a complicated concept that I have to write another entire blog article to explain it so for now, just trust that it IS different. To me.*

3 to 4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. (The good stuff, don't skimp here!)

2 onions, chopped

8 to 10 garlic cloves, chopped

1  1/2 lb Italian sausage, removed from casings.

3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning*

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tablespoons parsley (yes, Italian!)

1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 (12 oz) can tomato paste

2 to 3 cups red wine 

3 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

In thick-bottomed pot on medium-high heat, saute onions for a few minutes until they begin to soften, add garlic, saute another 2 to 3 minutes, add sausage, cook another 5 minutes while occasionally stirring to break up the chunks. 

As the meat browns add the spices and then the paste.

Now when the meat is pretty uniformly cooked you have to stop stirring and let it stick. Almost burn. I am serious. Just leave it alone! Key here is this bit of crust that's forming on the bottom of the pan has an incredible amount of flavor. You want for it to become dark brown, almost black. Almost. It's hard to keep from touching it. I took me years really, to find the exact moment when it's perfect but I can help you get there much faster by simply telling you, just when you can't stand it anymore and you think it's going to burn DON'T touch it. Give it one more minute. Or two. Then de-glaze with the wine and bring it to a boil. Use a wooden spoon to scrape that stuck-on flavor up and add the canned tomatoes. Bring that to a boil, then reduce and simmer while adding the batches of meatballs.

Next is the cheese

3 (30 oz) tubs of ricotta cheese

2 1/2 to 3 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

6 eggs

1/4 cup dried italian parsley

1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning*

Mix this up in a large bowl, cover, and set aside. This bowl should be twice as big as you think because you're going to add the pasta to it. 

Next, boil your ziti al dente MINUS 2 MINUTES.

Means follow the package directions but subtract 2 minutes from the suggested al dente.

 Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking process then drain and mix with cheese mixture. Mix it with your hands to prevent the noodles from cracking and splitting. Mix it well, but gently, so the cheese coats the insides and outsides of the pasta.

Next, layer your pans. This will make 2 or more large deep trays. I use disposable aluminum trays because I freeze these and don't want to tie up my pans in the freezer. This also makes it easy to gift a tray to a neighbor or friend when they're sick or have a death in the family. (Another tradition. Someone died? Send ziti)

The layering is sauce on the bottom, a layer of cheese noodles, a layer of meatballs and sauce, another later of noodles, another layer of sauce, then cover with foil and bake for 50 min on 325 then remove foil and top with more shredded mozzarella then 10 more min in the oven till the cheese is golden and the sides are bubbling. Serve with another ladle of sauce over top and some fresh parm on top.

I love this dish so much. My whole heart and soul are in this dish from the moment I begin making it till it gets served and eaten. I hope you will make it and feel loved too!

Manga! 

*Italian Seasoning*

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon sage

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 tablespoon dried minced garlic

Grind for 5 to 10 seconds in blender