So, some 20-odd years late, I have finally got round to watching the Sopranos and it has given me a craving for baked ziti. But I have no idea what it even is. I found this recipe, which looks great, but it is meat-free; and I have seen other recipes that include meat, and and, if I make it for my daughter I think I would like to make it with meat to make sure she gets enough protein (she has slightly disordered eating but loves pasta with meat sauce so I was hoping that baked ziti with meat would be an alternative solution to trying to feed her a good mix of nutrients!)
So I have a couple of questions:
a) is it traditional to include meat in baked ziti? Or not? Or it varies?
b) if you were to add meat to the serious eats recipe, how would you do it? I am thinking of just frying ground meat and chopped onion and adding it to the mixture in step 2, but has anybody else tried this or given it any thought?
by Youareafunt
3 Comments
There is a Soprano’s cookbook if you want to just try their recipe – [https://www.food.com/recipe/ziti-al-forno-from-the-sopranos-family-cookbook-73939](https://www.food.com/recipe/ziti-al-forno-from-the-sopranos-family-cookbook-73939)
If I were to tweak Kenji’s recipe – keep in mind I’m lazy – I would season then brown the ground beef in the same pot used for Step 2, drain the fat, then continue with the rest of Step 2.
I don’t know what is traditional or standard, but I usually make it with Italian sausage. I do 1 lb of sausage per pound of pasta, and sear it in a hot pan until it is nice and brown. I don’t cook it all the way through since it will cook in the oven.
I haven’t added onion, but I don’t see why not. I would probably take the sausage out before adding the onion so as not to overcook the sausage.
a) Who cares?
b) You could do meat sauce or make meatballs (and/or sausage) and mix them in.