4.8 from 27 votes
Baked Five Cheese Ziti al Forno Recipe
Comfort food family pasta dinner meal. Cheesy and rich in flavors!
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
50 mins
Total Time
55 mins
Servings:
6
servings
Calories:
389 kcal
Course:
Main Course
Cuisine:
Italian, American
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 8 ounces ziti pasta see Notes
For the Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1½ cup marinara sauce plain flavored tomato sauce
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1 cup fontina
- 1 cup emmental
- 1 cup mozzarella grated, mixed
- ¼ Teaspoon black pepper ground
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning substitute with oregano
Topping
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
- ½ cup fontina
- ½ cup emmental
- ½ cup mozzarella grated, mixed or just one of those
- parsley fresh chopped, fresh
Instructions
Cook pasta
- Cook ziti pasta as per package instructions.
Cup of Yum
Prepare the sauce
- Heat up a skillet with butter and melt it. Stir in flour and mix it quickly into the butter over a low heat setting. This is the base, a roux.
- Pour in some milk and keep on mixing, heat the skillet a little more (low to medium setting). Add all the milk until it's all used up so that the sauce thickens ad gets smoother in consistency.
- Stir in the marinara tomato sauce. Keep over a low to medium heat setting.
- Add the cream cheese and 4 other grated cheese. Mix it all in over the heat.
- Season with black pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. You can substitute the Italian seasoning with oregano.
- Mix it all up, stirring over a lower heat setting. The sauce should be velvety smooth and well combined in consistency.
To bake
- Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit/ 190 Celsius.
- Place cooked strained ziti pasta into a rectangular baking dish.
- Pour cheese sauce over the pasta and mix it all in so that the pasta is well coated.
- Top with grated cheese.
- Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 Fahrenheit/ 190 Celsius or until the top is crispy baked. I like to use the broiler setting for that.
- Serve up hot with freshly chopped parsley.
Notes
- 8 ounces/230 grams makes about ½ a pack ziti noodles.
- plain marinara sauce is also called tomato passata
- combine the cheese quantities to your liking, I used about the same quantity of mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, and emmental. Sometimes I use cheddar instead of emmental.
Nutrition Information
Calories
389kcal
(19%)
Carbohydrates
38g
(13%)
Protein
16g
(32%)
Fat
20g
(31%)
Saturated Fat
12g
(60%)
Trans Fat
1g
(50%)
Cholesterol
60mg
(20%)
Sodium
788mg
(33%)
Potassium
419mg
(9%)
Fiber
3g
(12%)
Sugar
6g
(12%)
Vitamin A
941IU
(19%)
Vitamin C
4mg
(4%)
Calcium
300mg
(30%)
Iron
2mg
(11%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 389
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 389kcal | 19% |
| Carbohydrates | 38g | 13% |
| Protein | 16g | 32% |
| Fat | 20g | 31% |
| Saturated Fat | 12g | 60% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 60mg | 20% |
| Sodium | 788mg | 33% |
| Potassium | 419mg | 9% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 6g | 12% |
| Vitamin A | 941IU | 19% |
| Vitamin C | 4mg | 4% |
| Calcium | 300mg | 30% |
| Iron | 2mg | 11% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.