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The Food Lab's No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe

Ziti is soaked rather than boiled, combined with a creamy ricotta sauce, and baked with mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Adapted from Serious Eats.

The Food Lab's No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe, plated
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This recipe, inside the app

Two phones, one plan. Tap a step on either phone and watch it tick on the other — that's the live sync, right here in your browser:

The Food Lab's No-B... 0/0 COOK 1COOK 2
1Mise en place
Prep 2 eggs: beat
Prep 3 tbsp parsley: mince
Prep 1 lb whole-milk mozzarella cheese: cut into...
2Soak the pasta
3Plate and serve
+ 14 more steps in the app
The Food Lab's No-B... 0/0 COOK 2COOK 1
1Mise en place
2Soak the pasta
In a large bowl, cover the ziti, penne, or other...
Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring...
3Plate and serve
+ 14 more steps in the app

Ingredients

The full plan

Split between two cooks — each step says who's on it.

1. Mise en place COOK 2

  • Prep 2 eggs: beat
  • Prep 3 tbsp parsley: mince
  • Prep 1 lb whole-milk mozzarella cheese: cut into rough 1/4-inch cubes

2. Soak the pasta COOK 1

  • In a large bowl, cover the ziti, penne, or other thick tubular pasta with hot salted water by 3 or 4 inches
  • Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring after the first 5 minutes to prevent sticking

3. Mise en place COOK 1

  • Prep 3 tbsp basil: mince

4. Make the cheese sauce COOK 1

  • In a large pot, pour 3 cups of the red sauce
  • Add the ricotta, half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano, eggs, heavy cream, and half of the parsley and basil, and stir to combine
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper
🤝 Cook 2 hands over the eggs and parsley.

5. Preheat the oven COOK 2

  • Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C)
🤝 Cook 2 picks up the ziti.

6. Drain the pasta COOK 1

  • Drain the soaked ziti, penne, or other thick tubular pasta
🤝 Cook 2 hands the colander to Cook 1.

7. Combine the pasta COOK 1

  • In the large pot, add the soaked ziti, penne, or other thick tubular pasta along with half of the mozzarella cheese cubes and stir until well combined
🤝 Cook 2 hands over the whole-milk mozzarella cheese.

8. Fill the baking dish COOK 1

  • In an ungreased 9- by 13-inch baking dish, transfer the combined ziti mixture and top with the remaining 1 cup red sauce and mozzarella
  • Lightly grease aluminum foil with cooking spray
  • Cover the baking dish tightly with the sprayed aluminum foil

9. Bake the ziti COOK 1

  • Bake the covered baking dish for 45 minutes

10. Brown the cheese COOK 2

  • Remove the foil and bake until the cheese begins to brown, about 15 minutes longer

11. Cool the ziti COOK 2

  • Remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Let cool for 10 minutes
🤝 Cook 1 hands over the ziti.

12. Plate and serve BOTH

  • Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and basil and serve

See it in action

Two phones, one kitchen — ticking a step on one updates the other instantly.

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Cook this with your co-chef

Open The Food Lab's No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe in Nommer and the checklists above land on your two phones — ticks sync live, handoffs get called out, and everything finishes at the same time. Free on iOS and Android.

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