Question about making baked ziti

[Anonymous]

Seeing it mentioned all the time has inspired me, and I want to make this. I'd like to add cut up chicken breast to increase the protein. To say I'm not an experienced or good cook would be a vast understatement, so please laugh quietly to yourselves before answering this: do I cook the chicken before putting it into the ziti mixture and then put the whole thing in the oven? Or do I cook the chicken first, then cut it, then add it to the mixture and bake it all together, thereby baking it twice?

[Anonymous]

I don’t use ckn but I make meat sauce w ground Turkey and yes, cook it. If I were to use cut up ckn, I’d cook it first and toss it in the sauce.

[Anonymous]

You cook the chicken 1st

[Anonymous]

Cook the chicken first and I, personally, would shred it. I don't like chunks

[Anonymous]

Cook chicken first.

[Anonymous]

I would cook it, but I agree with PP that making meat sauce with some ground meet of some kind would be tastier. Or meatballs.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are a newbie you may want to browse websites of jarred pasta sauces. They will have very easy recipes to give you some ideas on what to do. You don't have to follow their recipes, or use their products but that will give you a sense of temperatures and whether meats will cook in the sauce (I don't eat meat myself so I wouldn't know whether to cook the chicken).

[Anonymous]

Make baked ziti. Then separately grill up some chicken on the side.

[Anonymous]

You cook it first. Baked ziti has a lot of cheese so probably a lot of protein as is.

But I’d also add ground beef or turkey or sausage instead of shredded or chopped chicken to a classic red sauce baked ziti.

This is a good dish similar to baked ziti that incorporates shredded chicken: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chicken-alfredo-baked-ziti-recipe/

[Anonymous]

No chicken in ziti!

[Anonymous]

You need Italian sausage. You cook it first.

[Anonymous]

Here, OP. A gift. This ziti recipe is gold.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020811-cheesy-baked-pasta-with-sausage-and-ricotta

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would cook it, but I agree with PP that making meat sauce with some ground meet of some kind would be tastier. Or meatballs.

Thanks! Meat sauce sounds like a great idea - I will do that instead of adding chicken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here, OP. A gift. This ziti recipe is gold.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020811-cheesy-baked-pasta-with-sausage-and-ricotta

Your gift is paywalled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make baked ziti. Then separately grill up some chicken on the side.

Do this and add broccoli rabe aioli as an extra side with chicken. Grilled or pan seared chicken breast is great for Alfredo sauce or pasta with broccoli (chicken broth, garlic based) it not red sauce. In this case, chicken is best as a side dish— seared, parmigiana. Chicken incorporated into any red sauce baked pasta is funky tasting. Seriously.
A mixture of beef/pork is generally what is used in red sauce— bolognese, braciole, sausages. You can get away with chicken meatballs, but they should be well seasoned and pan browned before dropping into sauce.