Cheesy Baked Ziti

I am in love with Tillamook. I think this post makes that obvious. Aaron does too and he was excited to give one of their recipes a whirl the other night. We reduced the recipe by half since there are only two of us, omitted the bread crumbs (½ cup), and added garlic (because it’s, well, me) and sausage (because it’s Aaron), but the rest is all Tillamook.

Cheesy Baked Ziti slightly modified from The Tillamook Cheese Cookbook:

Serves 6

1 16 oz. package ziti
6-8 qt. water
1 Tb. butter
1½ c. heavy cream
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, plus extra to spread on top
1 Tb. olive oil
Marinara sauce (pre-prepared or your own)
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 chicken sausages, chopped and cooked
2 c. shredded mozzarella
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Boil the past in the water to al dente. Drain and reserve.

Heat the butter and heavy cream over medium-high heat in a 1-2 quart saucepan, stirring frequently. When the mixture starts to bubble, stir in the nutmeg and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 3 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Grease a large 13x9x2 baking dish with olive oil. Pour the pasta into the baking dish. Add the marinara, garlic, sausage, cream sauce, and mozzarella to the pasta, and stir well.

Top with more Parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until bubbling. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or place under the broiler for 5 minutes to crisp the top, if needed.

Cheesy, fast, and delicious. Leave it to Tillamook to come up with a stellar cheesy recipe. I loved this so much I almost forgot to take a picture of it. Are you busy tonight? Make this. Totally worth it.