Cooking guide
The Italian Pantry for Baked Pasta
By ZitiRecipe Editorial KitchenLast reviewed 2026-07-05
Short answer
A strong baked pasta starts with a short list of good ingredients: canned tomatoes (San Marzano-style are popular), olive oil, garlic, basil and oregano, a hard grating cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, low-moisture mozzarella, and quality dried pasta. Buy the best versions you can and season well.
Tomatoes, oil, and aromatics
Canned whole or crushed tomatoes are the backbone of most baked-pasta sauces; many cooks like San Marzano-style tomatoes for their balance, though good-quality tomatoes of any label work. Extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and onion build the base, and dried oregano or fresh basil round out the flavor. Start from these and you're most of the way to a good sauce.
Grating cheeses
A hard grating cheese adds savory depth. Parmigiano-Reggiano is nutty and complex; Pecorino Romano is sharper and saltier (it's a sheep's-milk cheese). Both are used in Italian and Italian-American cooking, sometimes blended. Grate them fresh — a little goes a long way in the sauce, the cheese layer, and on top.
Melting cheese and ricotta
Low-moisture mozzarella is the classic melt for baked ziti's gooey pull and browned top; fresh mozzarella is wetter and better drained or used sparingly. Ricotta adds the creamy layer characteristic of Italian-American baked ziti — whole-milk ricotta is richer. These choices are about texture and moisture as much as flavor.
The pasta itself
Use a sturdy dried tube pasta — ziti, penne, rigatoni, or mostaccioli. Bronze-die pastas have a rougher surface that grips sauce well, though any good dried pasta bakes fine. Boil it short of al dente so it finishes in the oven. Keep a box or two on hand and you can build a baked pasta any night.
FAQ
- What tomatoes are best for baked pasta?
- Good canned tomatoes are ideal. Many cooks favor San Marzano-style for balance, but any quality crushed or whole canned tomato makes a fine base — season it well.
- Parmigiano or Pecorino for baked ziti?
- Either works. Parmigiano-Reggiano is nuttier and milder; Pecorino Romano is sharper and saltier. Some cooks blend them. Grate fresh for the best flavor.
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