When I was a kid going to the mall food court was a big deal. My favorite place to go was Sabbaro's. I would get the small baked ziti and my sister got a slice of cheese pizza...memories.... KB Toys, Claire's, and Maurice's. I was thinking about this pasta dish while meal planning last week and decided I wanted to find a copycat recipe. I found this copycat recipe from Recipe Mama and knew it was perfect! There is really nothing fancy about this dish or challenging or particularly unique, but it reminds me other Saturday afternoons at the mall with my sister and my mom. This is a very easy vegetarian dish and it is kid friendly! Ron grilled some chicken sausage for his dish, but I had mine plain with a touch of tomato sauce on top. If you haven't had this pasta at Sabarro's you might think I am a little nuts about this pasta, but if you have you know exactly what I am talking about.
Ingredients
2 lbs Ziti
2 lbs Ricotta Cheese
3 Oz Grated Romano Cheese
3 Cups Tomato Sauce (buy a little extra on the side if you wish to top your pasta)
1/2 Teas. Black Pepper
1 1/2 lbs Shredded Mozzarella Cheese|
Instructions
Cook Ziti according to package directions until al dente stirring often.
After cooking, drain ziti well, but
do not rinse the pasta!
While Ziti is cooking preheat oven to 350F. Combine
ricotta, romano, tomato sauce (reserve 1/4 cup) and pepper in
large mixing bowl.
Gently combine cooked ziti with sauce mixture.
In a 13″x9″x2″ pan, spread the 1/4 cup reserved sauce.
Add ziti and top with mozzarella cheese. Cover loosely with
aluminum foil and bake until mozzarella is thoroughly melted
(about 20 minutes). I topped mine with some additional warm tomato sauce.