Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno – Olive Garden copy cat pasta dish that is arabiata sauce, alfredo sauce and five cheese based baked goodie topped with flavored crunchy crumbs!
If you are a vegetarian like me and like to eat at Olive Garden, I bet you order their Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno all the time like me!! I am obsessed with that pasta dish. Yes, I agree that it is very carb dense and fat loaded, but I mean once in a while is not going to hurt any, right?!?! This is a type of pasta I like to make when I have company. It is great option when you need a big batch of pasta and also guarantees to please your guests!!
This pasta dish is super duper easy to make with few ingredients!! You do not need to do any major prep, which is a plus. The key to this dish is good quality pasta sauce and assorted cheeses. In my opinion, couple of Rao’s pasta sauces work great. The combination of Rao’s Homemade Arrabbiata and Rao’s Homemade Alfredo Sauce, Roasted Garlic, brings this dish to life. The Arrabbiata sauce brings that right amount of kick while the Alfredo sauce adds perfect creaminess to it!!
Now that we have the quality sauce mix sorted out for this dish, lets talk about assorted cheese mix. The name itself says five cheese, that means you need 5 different type of cheeses for this pasta. Combination of fontina, ricotta, mozzarella, and BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese makes this dish an exact copy cat of Olive Garden version.
We have the flavors all sorted out, so now let’s talk about the texture. The pasta along with cheesy sauce has perfect creaminess. Adding flavored crumbs on top and baking it to perfection adds some great crunchy texture to this creamy deliciousness. I am in love with the flavor and texture combo of this goodie. I strongly urge you to try it so that you can be as obsessed with it as I am.
If you like pasta, try my both LOADED VEGGIE LASAGNA and LOADED VEGGIE WHITE LASAGNA. They are both loaded with so many veggies and tremendous amount of flavors with perfect non-soggy layering!! If you end up trying any of my recipes and like it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of all these deliciousness!
Happy & Healthy Eating!!
Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno
Ingredients
Ziti
- 1 lb Uncooked Ziti
- 32 oz Rao's Homemade Arrabbiata
- 15 oz Rao's Homemade Alfredo Sauce, Roasted Garlic
- 8 oz Shredded Fontina Cheese
- 7.5 oz Full Fat Ricotta Cheese
- ½ cup BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese
- ½ cup Shredded Mozzrella Cheese
- 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
- 4 cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 tsp Sugar
Crumbs
- ½ cup BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese
- ½ cup Shredded Mozzrella Cheese
- 1 cup 4C Panko Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1 tsp Galic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
- 1 tsp Dry Oregano
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 2 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Basil
Instructions
- Boil pasta as per package instructions, leaving the cooking time a min or two shy. (keep them el dente).
- Once cooked, drain them and keep them aside.
- Heat up extra virgin olive oil. Saute minced garlic and red chili flakes in EVOO.
- Add in Rao's Homemade Arrabbiata and Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce. Add 2 tsp of sugar and Mix well. Bring it to simmer.
- Add in fontina cheese, mozzarella cheese and BelGioioso Shredded Four Cheese. Mix well and simmer until the cheese is melted. Add ricotta cheese. Mix well.
- Mix in boiled pasta. Lay the pasta in a baking tray. It will look a bit on runny side, which is okay. Baking with panko will soak up lot of moisture.
- Make a panko mix by mixing everything listed under "Crumbs". Sprinkle a generous amount of crumbs on the pasta inside the baking tray.
- Cover the tray with aluminum foil and bake it on 375° F for 35 minutes.
- Uncover and broil it for 3-5 min. Keep an eye on it while broiling to avoid burning of crumbs.
- Enjoy it while its hot with side of salad and breadsticks!!
Made this dish this Thanksgiving holiday potluck event. It turned out delicious! It was a big success in the party. Thanks for the same Hetal.