Five Cheese Ziti al Forno: A Cheesy Delight

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If you’re a fan of Italian cuisine and love indulging in cheesy pasta dishes, then Five Cheese Ziti al Forno is a recipe you must try. This mouthwatering pasta bake is a delightful combination of ziti pasta, rich marinara and alfredo sauces, a blend of Italian cheeses, creamy ricotta, and a flavorful breadcrumb topping. It’s a comforting dish that is sure to satisfy your cravings.

The Ingredients You’ll Need

To make this scrumptious Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Dry ziti pasta (1 pound)
Shredded Italian blend cheeses (1 package, about 8 ounces)
Marinara sauce (2 jars, 24 ounces each)
Alfredo sauce (1 jar, 15 ounces)
Ricotta cheese (1 cup)
Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs (1/4 cup)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
Unsalted butter, melted (2 tablespoons)
Garlic, minced (2 cloves)

Cooking Instructions

Now that you have all the ingredients ready, let’s dive into the step-by-step instructions for preparing the Five Cheese Ziti al Forno:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Cook the ziti pasta according to the package instructions, but reduce the cooking time by 1 minute. Drain the pasta and transfer it to a large bowl.
Set aside half a cup of the shredded Italian blend cheeses for later use.
Add the marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, remaining Italian blend cheeses, and ricotta cheese to the bowl with the pasta. Toss everything together until well combined.
Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish and top it with the reserved half cup of shredded cheese.
In a small bowl, combine the panko bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, melted butter, and minced garlic to make the flavorful topping. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the pasta in the baking dish.
Bake the Five Cheese Ziti al Forno in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the dish is bubbly.
Once baked, let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Tips from the Test Kitchen

To ensure you achieve the best results with your Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, here are some handy tips from our test kitchen:

Italian blend cheeses are a convenient choice, as they come pre-shredded and offer a variety of flavors. However, if you prefer, you can substitute them with a combination of shredded mozzarella, romano, and provolone or Asiago cheese.
If you don’t have Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs on hand, you can use plain panko crumbs and add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning for that extra burst of flavor.
Serve your Five Cheese Ziti al Forno with homemade buttery breadsticks for a complete and satisfying meal.

Nutritional Information

Each serving of Five Cheese Ziti al Forno (based on 8 servings) contains the following approximate nutritional values:

Calories: 642
Fat: 46g
Carbohydrates: 33g
Protein: 25g
Fiber: 5g
Sodium: 1945mg

Please note that these values may vary depending on the specific brands of ingredients used.

Reviews from our Community

Our community members have tried and loved this Five Cheese Ziti al Forno recipe. Here are some of their reviews:

Nancy W: “I made this recipe exactly as written except I used Italian bread crumbs for the topping because I didn’t have any panko. And used grated Romano cheese in place of Parmesan because we like it better. It was delicious. I will definitely make it again but only occasionally as a treat due to the high-calorie count.”
DREGINEK: “This was really good. Day 2 – flavors melded and this was licked clean. PS – to people who think ‘everything’ needs to be made using fresh ingredients – tsk tsk!! This is a great, easy, budget-friendly, weeknight meal! Thanks Juliana!!”
chris: “Delicious and cheesy. The topping gives it a light crunch and added flavor. Would add another 1/2lb of pasta, for we had a lot of sauce following the recipe as is.”
Allrecipes Member: “This looked like it was going to be too wet, so I withheld the last couple of spoonfuls of marinara sauce, but after baking, it was just right. Easy, tasty. The buttery, garlicky crumbs made it a bit special.”