Creamy, chees-y ziti al forno baked in the oven until delicious golden crust? Yes, please!
Combination of these 5 cheeses has been chosen carefully to let all the flavors flow together without one completely covering the other.
It's possible to substitute Ricotta for Mozzarella to make the cheese sauce less "gooey" or use a mix of Pecorino and Parmesan cheese to give your ziti a little extra tang.
Swiss cheese can be substituted for Emmental, which IS, in fact, Swiss.
The cornerstone cheeses though that I don't recommend omitting or substituting are Gorgonzola and Fontina.
Full Recipe
Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno
Delicious, creamy and sooo chees-y these are the best Ziti Al Forno you'll ever try.
SERVINGS: 4
Ingredients
- 12 oz ziti pasta , 340 grams
- 4 oz fontina cheese , 110 grams
- 4 oz gorgonzola cheese , 110 grams
- 4 oz emental cheese , 110 grams
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese , 110 grams
- 4 oz parmesan cheese (grated) , 110 grams
- 1 - 1 ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
NOTE: you can cook ziti halfway done. In this case use a bit more milk for the cheese sauce, so that pasta can continue cooking in the oven. - If you’re using long ziti break them in half to fit in the pot.
- In the meantime prepare the five-cheese sauce.
- In a pot add milk, fontina, emental, gorgonzola cheese cut in cubes, also ½ of the quality of shredded mozzarella and half of all grated parmesan cheese.
- Set on very low heat and simmer for a few minutes until all cheese is melted. Stir continuously.
- Grease a large casserole with butter.
- Drain ziti and layer half of the quantity in the casserole. Cover with ⅓ of melted cheese sauce.
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Top with shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese.
- Place the second layer of ziti and repeat the process. Cover with cheese sauce, then breadcrumbs, then remaining cheese.
- Bake in a preheated to 375F (190C) oven for about 15-20 minutes until a light golden brown crust on the top.
Notes
If you don't finish the whole dish in one go, just add some more milk and reheat ziti in the oven. They're absolutely delicious even the next day.
Nutrition
Calories: 932kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 51gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 26gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 139mgSodium: 1385mgPotassium: 529mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1296IUCalcium: 1099mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have a question or want to let me know you loved the recipe?Leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!
Now isn't that the ultimate comfort food there is!?
Buon Appetito!
Karl Söderman says
Thanks for a great recipe! I searched around for the best recipe for Ziti al Forno and I picked yours 🙂
I included it here in my list of 18 authentic italian pasta recipes: http://blog.ingredientmatcher.com/authentic-italian-pasta-recipes/
Italian Recipe Book says
Thank Karl, you did a great job with this compilation 🙂