Everyone has a "baked ziti story." Usually, it involves a foil tray at a potluck, noodles that have reached the consistency of wet cardboard, and a layer of ricotta so dry it feels like eating sand. It’s the ultimate low-effort, high-reward crowd-pleaser that somehow, almost always, ends up a little disappointing.
Enter Alison Roman.
If you’ve spent any time on the culinary side of the internet over the last few years, you know the vibe. Lemons, shallots, anchovies, and a general "unfussy" attitude that makes you feel like you could host a dinner party for twelve in a tiny apartment without breaking a sweat. Her take on this Italian-American staple isn’t reinventing the wheel, but it fixes the one thing we all secretly hate about baked pasta.
The grainy cheese.
The Secret to That Not-Grainy Ricotta
Most people just plop ricotta into the pasta and hope for the best. Big mistake. Huge. When ricotta hits the high heat of an oven, the moisture evaporates, leaving behind those weird, gritty curds.
Roman’s fix? Heavy cream. Basically, you mix the ricotta with a healthy splash of heavy cream before it even touches a noodle. It sounds simple because it is. But that extra fat and moisture act as a buffer. It keeps the cheese silky and luscious even after forty minutes in a 425°C oven. Honestly, once you do this, you’ll never go back to the dry, crumbly stuff again.
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Why the Pasta Shape Actually Matters
We call it baked ziti, but Alison Roman actually pushes for rigatoni.
Why? Because ziti is smooth. Rigatoni has those beautiful ridges. Those ridges are tiny little velcro strips for the sauce. Also, rigatoni tends to be a bit sturdier. In her NYT Cooking version, she emphasizes that the pasta needs to be severely undercooked before it goes into the baking dish.
If the box says 11 minutes for al dente, you should be pulling those noodles at 8 or 9 minutes. They should be borderline crunchy in the middle. They’re going to spend a long time swimming in tomato sauce and steam under a layer of foil; if they’re perfect when they leave the pot, they’ll be mush by the time they hit the table.
Building the Sauce Without the Fuss
You don't need a sauce that simmers for six hours. You really don't.
Roman’s approach is about high-impact aromatics. We’re talking a lot of garlic—sliced, not minced, because minced garlic burns too fast and gets bitter. She also uses tomato paste to build a "brick-red" foundation. You fry the paste in olive oil until it darkens and smells slightly sweet.
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Then come the cans. A mix of whole peeled tomatoes (which you crush by hand, because it's satisfying) and crushed tomatoes or purée.
- Sauté the aromatics: Onions and sliced garlic in plenty of olive oil.
- The paste move: Stir in the tomato paste until the oil turns orange.
- The liquid: Add the tomatoes and some red pepper flakes.
- The "Pasta Water" trick: Don't throw away that starchy water. You’ll need a splash to loosen the sauce so it can actually penetrate the inside of the pasta tubes.
To Meat or Not to Meat?
The base recipe is vegetarian, which makes it a great "oops, I forgot my friend doesn't eat meat" dinner. But honestly? It handles additions like a champ.
A lot of people (myself included) like to brown some Italian sausage—the spicy kind, obviously—with the onions. If you’re feeling fancy, some pancetta or guanciale adds a funky depth that plays well with the brightness of the tomatoes. Just make sure you drain the excess fat if you go the sausage route, or the whole dish ends up oily.
The Layering Strategy
This isn't a "dump and stir" situation. It’s more of a lasagna-lite.
You want to start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. This prevents the bottom noodles from sticking and burning. Then you go in with a third of the pasta, followed by dollops of that cream-infused ricotta and chunks of fresh mozzarella.
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Don't use the pre-shredded stuff in the green can or the bags. It’s coated in potato starch to keep it from clumping, which means it won't melt into those long, gooey strings we all want. Buy a ball of fresh mozzarella and tear it apart with your hands. It looks better, and it tastes like actual food.
Repeat the layers. Finish with a heavy, aggressive grating of Parmesan. You want a crust. A "lid" of cheese that shatters slightly when the spoon hits it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Rinsing the pasta: Never do this. You want the starch. The only exception is if you’re prepping this way ahead of time and need to stop the cooking immediately, but even then, just use a little oil.
- Too much sauce: It should look slightly "soupy" before it goes in the oven because the pasta will absorb a lot of that liquid. If it looks "perfect" before baking, it'll be dry when it comes out.
- Skimping on salt: Pasta needs salt. Sauce needs salt. Ricotta needs salt. If it tastes "flat," it’s not because you missed an herb; it’s because you were timid with the salt cellar.
Let It Sit (The Hardest Part)
When the timer goes off and the kitchen smells like a dream, your instinct is to dig in immediately.
Wait. Give it at least ten minutes. If you scoop it out while it's bubbling hot, the cheese and sauce will just run to the bottom of the plate. Letting it sit allows the proteins in the cheese to firm up slightly and the sauce to thicken. It makes for a much better "slice" of ziti.
Your Next Steps
Ready to actually make this? Stop by the store and grab the "good" ricotta—the stuff with as few ingredients as possible.
If you're feeling ambitious, try making your own ricotta. It’s surprisingly easy (just milk, lemon juice, and a bit of heat). But even if you go store-bought, remember the heavy cream trick.
Pro-tip: Make a double batch of the red sauce. It freezes beautifully, and having a jar of "Alison Roman-style" sauce in the freezer is basically the ultimate gift to your future, tired self on a Tuesday night. Pair the finished ziti with a very simple, very lemony green salad to cut through all that richness. You'll need the acid to balance out the pound of cheese you're about to consume.