Sarra Ina Garten’s baked ziti is a rich, meaty baked pasta with a slow-simmered ragù, two layers of mozzarella, and Parmesan baked on top until crusty and bubbly. It serves 8 and takes about 2 hours, most of it hands-off.
Ina calls her version Baked Rigatoni with Lamb Ragù in Modern Comfort Food, and she swaps two things from a traditional baked ziti: rigatoni instead of ziti, and ground lamb instead of beef. She says “no collection of comfort foods is complete without some kind of baked pasta” and built this ragù with San Marzano tomatoes, fennel, carrots, and 2 1/2 cups of red wine. Either pasta shape works here.
The eggs and cream tossed with the hot pasta before it goes into the dish are the step most baked ziti recipes skip. They turn the sauce into a custard-like binder that holds every tube of pasta together when you cut into it. Without them, the pasta slides apart and the dish falls flat on the plate.
Ina Garten Baked Ziti Recipe
Course: DinnerCuisine: American, ItalianDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutes620
kcalIna’s Baked Rigatoni with Lamb Ragù from Modern Comfort Food, with a slow-simmered meat sauce, two layers of fresh mozzarella, and a Parmesan crust. Assemble the night before and bake right before dinner.
Ingredients
- For the Ragù:
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3 tablespoons good olive oil
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1 1/2 cups (225g) chopped yellow onion (1 large)
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2 cups (260g) 1/2-inch diced carrots (3 large)
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2 cups (260g) 1/2-inch diced fennel, cored (1 medium bulb)
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1 lb (450g) ground lamb
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1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
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1 tablespoon whole fennel seeds, roughly chopped
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2 tablespoons tomato paste
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1 (28 oz / 794g) can crushed tomatoes, such as San Marzano
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2 1/2 cups (600ml) dry red wine, such as Chianti, divided
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1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Pasta:
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1 lb (450g) rigatoni or ziti, such as De Cecco
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2 extra-large eggs
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2/3 cup (160ml) heavy cream
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1 lb (450g) fresh salted mozzarella, divided
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1/2 cup (50g) freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese
Directions
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Build the ragù: Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and fennel and sauté for 10 minutes until they start to brown. Add the lamb, garlic, and fennel seeds and cook for 8 minutes, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink.
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Simmer: Stir in the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of the wine, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer partly covered for 40 minutes, stirring now and then. Off the heat, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of wine.
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Cook the pasta: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Boil the rigatoni in salted water according to the package directions until barely al dente. Drain.
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Bind with eggs and cream: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add the hot pasta and toss well. Grate half the mozzarella on a box grater and add it to the pasta. Add the ragù, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss to combine.
- Bake: Transfer to a 10x14x2-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Slice the remaining mozzarella and arrange on top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the sauce is hot, bubbly, and the pasta is crusty on top.
FAQs
Why does Ina use lamb instead of beef in her baked ziti?
Lamb has a richer, slightly gamey flavor that stands up to the fennel seeds and red wine in the ragù. Beef works fine if you prefer it, but the lamb is what gives Ina’s version its depth.
She pairs the lamb with diced fennel bulb and crushed fennel seeds, which is a classic Italian combination. The anise flavor of the fennel rounds out the richness of the lamb in a way that doesn’t happen with beef.
Can you use ziti instead of rigatoni?
Yes. Ina uses rigatoni but both are thick tube pastas that hold the ragù inside. The dish works the same way with either shape.
Penne also works in a pinch. The key is using a sturdy shape with ridges or openings that catch the sauce. Avoid thin or smooth pastas like spaghetti or angel hair because the ragù slides right off.
Why add eggs and cream to the pasta?
The egg and cream mixture turns into a light custard when it bakes, binding the pasta and sauce together into one cohesive dish. Without it, the pasta sits loose in the sauce and the slices fall apart when you serve.
Toss the eggs and cream with the pasta while it’s still hot so the residual heat starts setting the custard before it even hits the oven. This is the step that separates Ina’s version from a standard dump-and-bake ziti.
Can you make this baked ziti ahead of time?
Yes. Ina says the dish “can be completely assembled a day in advance and refrigerated.”
Bake it straight from the fridge, adding about 10 extra minutes since the dish starts cold. Look for the sauce bubbling around the edges and the mozzarella browning on top before pulling it out. This is one of the best make-ahead dinners for a crowd because all the real work happens the day before.
Why does Ina add wine in two stages?
She simmers 2 cups of wine with the ragù for 40 minutes, then stirs in the remaining 1/2 cup off the heat at the very end.
The first addition cooks down and concentrates into the sauce. The second addition stays fresh and bright because it never hits the heat. You get the depth of cooked wine and the sharpness of raw wine in the same dish
