Baked Ziti with Sausage

A unique take on a classic dish. That's why I'm giving this recipe 5 Stars. Easy to make. Simple ingredients. Incredible fresh-to-the-palate taste, especially if you use some quality pancetta, sausage and fresh basil. So many of my people love this recipe.

Love, love, love this recipe! My whole family always requests this. Made it the first time exactly as written. It is great exactly as written. My son asked that the next time to make it half with sausage and half with ground beef. That is his personal preference and is good that way as well. It makes a lot for a family of four but that gives us a chance to fight over the leftovers. It is still great the next day. I make this once a month during the winter months.

This was a hit last night with my family and a family we had over for a supper and game night. The kids are all young adult college kids now with discerning tastes. All loved it and went back for seconds. I used bacon because it was on hand and beef broth as a red wine substitute (as mentioned in an earlier review-thank you) because of a food allergy in the group. It was easy to make. Served with a large salad, Italian bread, and a vegetarian pasta alternative this was a nice, casual meal. All want the recipe! It’s a keeper!

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why the one star then?

I've tried a number of baked ziti recipes over the years, but this one stood out to me and my husband as the best. It is the only one in which I've used pancetta (can use bacon if pancetta not available), so maybe that was the special difference. For some reason, there was no fresh basil at my market so I used a heaping tablespoon of basil stir-in paste in the tube. I liked the ratio of pasta/meat sauce/cheese and the addition of red wine also. I did use hot Italian sausage (personal preference). I froze the casserole before baking and it did not suffer at all in flavor; leftovers also were very good. I would highly recommend this baked ziti!

I enjoyed this casserole a lot.  It was easy to make, hearty, and tasty. The pancetta was great and added a lot of flavor.  After I added it I thought that 1 cup of wine was way too much but the consistency after baking was perfect.  The sausage and onions do take on the flavor of the wine so make sure you use good wine.

I'm very picky about this lend of pasta recipe and my 2 year old grandson is even pickier! I used Italian sausage stuffed w fire roasted tomatoes and mozzarella, but otherwise followed exactly. It's wonderful and will become a regular in Grammy's kitchen!

This was one of the best baked pasta dishes ever! My husband and brother totally loved it. The only change I made was using rigatoni instead of ziti, my store did not have ziti.

Simply fantastic and easy to make. I loved the pancetta and it was a real pleaser at our place!

So, so good. Couldn't find pancetta, so used bacon. Filling…goes a long way. Next time, for my family of 4, I will split into two casserole dishes and freeze one for later.

We absolutely loved this recipe. I've made one similar to it, but it didn't have near as much flavor as this version did. Using the sausage was a great idea, as was the pancetta and red wine for deglazing. High marks from the whole family on this one. You can read my full review at Taking On Magazines: http://bit.ly/1lwpCRm

This is a very favorite dish for my husband and me. It is great for a one-entree dinner, a potluck, or our favorite--leftovers. I love salads so served with a salad would be good also. I used bacon instead of pancetta and merlot wine. The second time I made it I mixed about a cup of the meat sauce in the zita and cheese mixture before pouring it into the baking dish and it distributed that yummy sausage flavor throughout. It is on our dinner menu again this week.

Made this recipe for company, as written. Wonderful! Company asked for the recipe and made it for their dinner the next night. Delicious leftovers.

Absolutely wonderful recipe.... I also substituted with bacon and added a little extra oregano as well. A really delicious flavor that is complimented with the red wine!! I certainly will make this one again soon!!

I tried this last night and thought it was great. I didn't have all the ingredients so I substituted: I used bacon but pancetta would be yummy also. Used penne instead of ziti,added a couple cups of fresh chopped spinach, a couple tablespoons of pesto instead of fresh basil, feta cheese instead of ricotta and provel cheese instead of mozzarella. It was moist, tasty and the perfect comfort food for a snowy winter night

I made it without the bacon and it was wonderful!

I also tried this recipe for a pot luck and everybody loved it. I will definitely try it again. My husband love it too and want me to make it again soon so he can get a bigger portion. Thank you, I really enjoyed making this one.

Made this according to recipe with bacon. It was great and even better as I am eating leftovers now.

My husband (yes, it's that easy) made this for dinner. It looked and tasted great! Warm comfort food on a cold night. The only change we made was substituting beef broth for the red wine. Will make again!

I liked the taste of this, but it came out very watery for me. Also, once I added the wine to the pot, the sausage turned purple, which made the whole dish very unappetizing looking. It certainly didn't look anything like the photo here.

I just made this for a pot luck event and it was amazing! Flavorful, creamy (but not too creamy), and rich! My husband, who doesn't usually like cheesy or creamy foods told me to keep this recipe on my short list! I will definitely make this again!