Baked Ziti With Sausage Meatballs and Spinach

This was great!! I would use a little more mozzarella and shingle it on top so every bit of the top is covered. I used 1 extra oz of spinach and of creme fraiche because that's what the packages came in. Tasted amazing!. Very easy to customize with different meatballs.

This was excellent. We substituted the spinach for some fresh chopped basil. We also added parm, an egg and Italian breadcrumbs to the mix when making the meat balls. Didn’t have creme fraiche so we used sour cream and it was great.

carefully arrange the top layer or so of noodles so as many ends as possible are sticking up, which maximizes crispy bits and happiness

I wasn't really a fan of this. I found the smashed tomatoes to be really off-putting and chunky (I've used kitchen shears and cut up tomatoes in the can and found that works better) and the sauce became very liquid-y for me. As trashy as it sounds, I almost feel shredded low-moisture mozzarella would be better here because almost 1 pound of torn chunks of mozz gets to be a bit inedible when there isn't enough of anything else to counteract it (at least for me). It also doesn't reheat well.

We just crumbled up the sausage and then made the sauce from there. Was delicious all over the place. Italian tomatoes make all the difference, as they fall apart readily. Also: buffalo mozzarella is wow! if you can find it.

Delicious. I followed the recipe except I added fresh basil and fresh oregano sprigs to the sauce at the same time the spinach was added, and I used chicken Italian sausage and rigatoni. I love the fresh basil and tomato flavors along with the little meatballs. Will definitely make again.

I will never make another baked pasta recipe. This is comfort food at its best. The only change I made was to use crushed tomatoes versus whole. Actually one other tiny tweak. I threw in a chunk of Parmesan rind into the sauce as it simmered. I think it’s the creme fraiche that tips it over the edge. That little bit of tang is exactly what every baked pasta needed and didn’t know it. All the stars!!

I like to use the uncased sausage meat because it often has less (or no) added preservatives.

Instead of the creme fraiche, I add 2 eggs and 1 half to 1 cup of mozzarella pieces. Adds body and moisture.

I bet Greek yogurt would work also.

Fabulous - will definitely be making this again. We used beef mince to make meatballs, and added some beef stock powder to boost the flavour of the sauce. Took the advice to poke bits of penne up above the surface so that there would be delicious crunchy bits - perfect. Added extra mozzarella on top as well. Loved by the whole family

This comes together quickly and easily, and was really comforting and delicious. Best part is the browned and crispy top! I’m not a huge fan of ricotta so I may try a bechamel next time.

Wonderful recipe. Only change I made.........Oh Oh, here we go.......I broke up the whole tomatoes in a large bowl instead of after adding to the pot with the onions, garlic, etc.

I find it easier to start the whole sausages in the pan with a little water. Cover and "poach" just until the sausages firm up. Then slice them into pieces about as wide as they are thick and saute those instead. Not "balls", exactly, but just as delicious.

Really good flavor, but texture was a bit soupy (did half recipe in a 9/9 pyrex). Next time I'll probably cut down on ricotta/creme fraiche to keep the sauce redder and more tomato-y and either just crumble sausage or add breadcrumbs etc. to make more like a meatball as these were rubbery as is. Cook the whole thing a tad longer (incl. in broiler) to get crispy texture.