Patty’s Baked Ziti -- The First Dinner in a New Kitchen

I moved on Wednesday, May 15th. Steve rented a truck — he would not let me do it any other way — and he and Matt drove it to Oak Lawn on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning: load the truck, drive to Pilsen, unload the truck. Matt put together the bed frame. Steve fixed a dripping faucet in the bathroom that he noticed while carrying boxes past. He did not say anything about it; he just came out of the bathroom with a wrench and a piece of Teflon tape and said "All set." Nobody asked him to. He is a plumber. He was not going to leave a dripping faucet.

Patty and Matt's wife Danielle drove in the car behind the truck. Patty brought the frozen ziti and two grocery bags of pantry items she had quietly assembled: the bulk rice and oats and lentils I had bought, a can of tomatoes, salt, olive oil, the coffee for the drip maker, a jar of peanut butter. Like she had packed the essentials for a space station. They set the kitchen up while Matt and Steve did furniture. By noon the apartment had dishes in the cabinet and coffee in the maker and the Dutch oven on the stove.

Mrs. Orozco came up at one o'clock with a plate of tamales and a small cactus. She said "The cactus is for good luck. You can't kill it." She showed me which way the light comes in the kitchen in the morning and where the best farmers market near here is on Saturday. Then she went back downstairs and I stood in my kitchen — my kitchen, in Pilsen, in Chicago, the city where I am going to teach — and I thought: this is it. This is the start of the actual thing.

First dinner in the new apartment: Patty's frozen ziti, reheated in the Dutch oven. Ate it standing at the kitchen counter because I did not have a chair at the kitchen table yet — the chairs were coming from Matt's car load, still in the trunk. I ate the ziti out of the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon by the window. It tasted like every meal Patty has ever made me. It tasted like home, carried forward into a new place. That is exactly what I needed on the first night.

Patty’s frozen ziti, reheated in the Dutch oven she had the foresight to set on my stove, was the only dinner that made sense that first night. I ate it standing up with a wooden spoon because there were no chairs yet, and it still tasted like the most complete meal I’d had in weeks. This is her recipe — the one she makes in big batches, wraps tight in foil, and sends with people she loves when they’re starting something new.

Patty’s Baked Ziti

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti pasta
• 1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or hot), casings removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, plus more for serving
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the ziti one minute short of the package directions so it stays firm during baking. Drain and set aside.
2. Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it into small pieces, and cook until browned through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
3. Build the sauce. Stir in the marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
4. Mix the ricotta filling. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, parsley, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan until combined.
5. Assemble the ziti. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a 9x13-inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of the meat sauce on the bottom. Add the cooked ziti and remaining meat sauce, then toss to coat. Drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture across the top and gently fold them in so pockets of ricotta are distributed throughout. Top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.
6. Bake. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
7. To freeze and reheat. Cool the assembled ziti completely, cover tightly with plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen in a Dutch oven at 350°F, covered, for about 1 hour, then uncovered for 15 minutes until heated through and bubbly.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 485 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 46g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 890mg