Not Your Mothers Baked Ziti

probably because there's no ziti, also ramblings on nostalgia

I haven’t thought of baked ziti in years, yet I undoubtedly would have said it was my favorite dish if you asked 8, 10, or even 12-year-old me. Much like the cyclical nature of fashion and beauty trends, the food world is experiencing the joy of nostalgia. From the resurgence of Barbie to Kate Bush’s “Running up That Hill” revival and Y2K fashion being worn by Gen Z, nostalgia is being spotted in every industry. With several stressful years, that don’t seem to have an end in sight, it makes complete sense that we’re all looking for comfort - and nostalgia brings just that.

For the food industry nostalgia has looked like adults raving over mozzarella sticks from Bernie’s in Brooklyn, Shrimp cocktail back on rotation at parties and happy hour, and even a modern take on Jello - okay, not Jell-O the company but just look at Solid Wiggles and Gelee Gelee if you want to see how cool jelly (Jello is a trademarked brand name even though it has widely become the name for gelatin based desserts - an example of brand recognition going so far it went wrong) is now. I even tried my hand at cool jelly with these blood-orange passionfruit jelly wedges.

Baked Ziti immediately takes me back to childhood dinners at home but also ordering it at the mall food court. I think it might be too late to bring back the mall food court but for my entire childhood and teen years the mall was the cool place to be and my food court order of choice was often the baked ziti from Sbarro. I actually wanted to hide this deeply embarrassing fact about myself but sometimes we have to be honest about our roots. Sbarro Baked Ziti hit every time - well it did from the 90s to early 2000s at least.

It’s now 2024, I live in Brooklyn, and the only Sbarro I know of now is in Times Square so I’m also not planning to revisit that - unless enough of you ask then maybe I will? I also now know that ziti isn’t the ideal pasta shape for this situation - I’m actually not sure what situation it is good for so please advise if you know. Ziti is smooth, leaving nothing for the sauce to cling to. In my updated version I’m using Quattrotini from Sfoglini which is a five-hole short pasta covered in ridges. In every way, this pasta is screaming to be drowned in sauce, so I did just that.

This updated ‘baked ziti’ was inspired by MVP slices you can find at many Italian-American slice shops and red sauce joints. The MVP stands for Marinara, Vodka, and Pesto - the three sauces all used on one pizza. This is the perfect slice for the indecisive person who wants it all - me! The pesto also adds a lot of brightness to an otherwise heavy dish.

For those who read it all and now want the recipe but also for those who didn’t read any of it and also want the recipe, I present to you - the recipe:

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Not Your Mothers Baked Ziti

To view the video, Tiktok or Instagram.

serves 2-3, double or triple as needed

NOTES: As always I recommend reading the entire recipe before beginning and mise en place all ingredients before cooking. Mise en place = everything in its place, basically gathering all ingredients, tools, and doing any chopping/prep before turning on the heat. Also, the pesto can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge with a layer of olive oil on top to keep it fresh.

INGREDIENTS

8 oz Quattrotini pasta, or similar ridged short pasta

2 oz Whole milk mozzarella, freshly shredded 

Parmigiana Reggiano, freshly grated

Tomato sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

3-4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced 

Calabrian chili or red pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 tsp kosher salt

14 oz can san Marzano tomatoes*

vodka sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced/grated

1 tsp Calabrian chili, or red pepper flakes to taste

3 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 cup vodka

14 oz crushed tomatoes*

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt 

Pesto:

1/2 cup walnuts

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup Olive oil

2 cups Basil

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Salt 

1/4 cup Parm

*I bought and split one 28oz can of crushed tomatoes to use between the marinara and vodka sauce.

STEPS

Before starting the marinara sauce set a pot of water on high so it’s at a boil once this sauce is done. Preheat oven to 425º.

Make the Marinara sauce

To a small saucepan over medium heat add olive oil and sliced garlic, cooking about 1-2 minutes until fragrant and slightly browned being careful not to burn. Turn heat down to medium-low and add calabrian chili, or red pepper flakes, and salt allowing to infuse the oil for about 30-45 seconds. Add the tomatoes, stirring in the infused oil, and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let sit while you start the pasta and other sauces.

Start the Pasta

Heavily salt your boiling water, no I really mean it, and add your pasta. Cook until al dente, according to the package. For Sfoglini Quarttrotini this is 10 min.

Once you add your pasta …

Make the vodka sauce

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, once heated add olive oil. Add shallot and garlic and cook until translucent and just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add calabrian chili, or red pepper flakes, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste has darkened, about 2-3 minutes. Add and stir in the vodka until it has reduced by at least half. Lastly, add crushed tomatos and cream stirring until combined. Simmer until the color has gone from a pale orange to a deeper orange, about 3-5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Drain pasta, reserving pasta water, and add to your vodka sauce. Add just enough pasta water to loosen the sauce and mix until everything is fully coated.

Assemble

To a baking dish with straight sides, add half of the vodka sauce-coated pasta. On top of your layer of pasta add dollops of marinara sauce randomly, they should not be touching each other and should be like little pockets of sauce. Add the remaining pasta and any vodka sauce left in the pan to the top being careful not to mix the marinara pockets in too much. Repeat marinara dollops on top then top with mozzarella cheese. If you want more mozz on top, go for it - it’s your kitchen.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is golden brown in spots and bubbly. If your oven isn’t browning the top, I like to switch it to broil for the last minute being sure to keep a close eye on it. (Broiling can quickly go from perfectly golden to burnt in a matter of seconds)

While your pasta is in the oven…

Make the Walnut Pesto

To a food processor add your walnuts and blend until they’re fully broken down. Add grated garlic, red pepper, olive oil, and basil and pulse until basil is finely chopped and blended with everything. Stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Pour pesto into a container and add lemon juice, parm, and salt. Stir until well combined, taste, and adjust to taste with more oil, lemon juice, or salt.

Serve

Top baked pasta with dollops of pesto and serve. Optional: top each plate with fresh parm.

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