boursin-baked-ziti

Easy Recipes

Boursin Baked Ziti

Many white baked ziti recipes call for swapping out the marinara for béchamel sauce, but a mixture of Boursin, ricotta, and heavy cream is much simpler—and super-delicious. For even more herby flavor for the sauce, we fold in plenty of chopped fresh basil and parsley. 😎

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 lb. ziti
  • 4 (5.2-oz.) blocks herbed Boursin cheese
  • 1 (15-oz.) container ricotta
  • 3/4 c. heavy cream
  • 1/2 c. finely grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 c. packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 c. packed fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 c. (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella, divided

Directions

  1. Step 1Place a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 375°. Grease bottom and sides of a 13"-by-9" baking dish with cooking spray. 
  2. Step 2In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than package directions. Drain and return pasta to pot.
  3. Step 3Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir Boursin, ricotta, cream, Parmesan, basil, parsley, red pepper, and 1 cup mozzarella to combine; season with salt, if needed.
  4. Step 4Stir half of ricotta mixture into pasta in pot until combined. Using a spoon, dollop remaining ricotta mixture into pot. Stir once or twice just to evenly distribute the dollops (don’t fully break them up). Transfer pasta to prepared dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
  5. Step 5Cover dish with foil and bake until cheese is bubbling, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and turn on broiler. Broil, watching closely, until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes more.