Baked Ziti: Ode to the Sopranos

I must admit, I love HBO's The Sopranos.

The season finale and last nine episodes begins in April. I've grown to love this show and agree with an article in this month's Vanity Fair ("The Family that Preys Together") that maintains it's the best dramatic television show of all time and certainly what has transitioned HBO from a feature-and-fight network to probably one of the best producers of original adult content on television. I've even grown to think a bit like Tony Soprano.

One thing is for sure: the amount of Italian food in this show is immense and mouth watering. From Sfogliatelle to Chicken Marsala to Baked Ziti. So, as an ode to The Sopranos here's an easy recipe for a popular dish on the show, Baked Ziti. It's not necessarily cheap but it is quick, yummy and will feed an army of mob soldiers for days.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ziti pasta
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 1/2 lb. mozzarella
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 28oz. jars of pasta sauce
• 4-5 tbsp. parmesan
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400F.
2. Cook the ziti in lots of water until Al Dente (about 11 minutes in boiling water at sea level).
3. While the ziti is cooking, mix the ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, parsley and nutmeg in a bowl until well combined. Add a bit of salt and ground peper to taste.
4. When the ziti is cooked, drain and return to pan on medium heat.
5. Add enough pasta sauce to coat the ziti well.
6. In a 13x9 pan, add half the ziti to the bottom of the pan.
7. Layer half of the cheese mixture over the ziti in the pan.
8. Mix the remaining cheese mixture with the remaining ziti... only loosely so that chunks remain.
9. Cover the top with more pasta sauce until covered. Then add the last bit of parmesan and sprinkle 1 tbsp. of olive oil over the top of everything.
10. Cook for 10-15 minutes until hot an bubbling. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.