Baked Ziti with Sausage

Baked ziti is a classic comfort dish. We wanted a version that was quick and easy to make, but still packed with traditional Italian flavor. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• Make a quick tomato sauce rather than relying on store-bought sauce. With just a few minutes of work, you can prepare an authentic sauce that is head and shoulders above anything from a jar.
• Cook the sauce in the same skillet in which you brown the sausage for the richest flavor. The browned bits of meat stuck to the pan add a lot of flavor once released by the liquid ingredients in the sauce.
• Use freshly grated, imported Parmesan for the richest, most complex flavor.