💨 Smoker
Friday night calls for something that hits different — and smoked baked ziti is exactly that. This isn't your average oven bake. We're running a mixture of ground Italian sausage and grass-fed ground beef on the wire rack of the Pit Boss, letting all those drippings fall straight into a Lodge cast iron pot of onions, garlic, and marinara below. The smoke works on everything at the same time. It's lazy genius.
Once the meat is cooked through and the sauce has soaked up that wood smoke, you fold in the ziti, hit it with ricotta, pile on the mozzarella, and let it melt right there in the smoker. Add the garlic bread on the side, throw together a Caprese salad, and you've got a full Italian spread that tastes like it came from a restaurant — but better, because you made it in the backyard.
The Meat
The Sauce Base
The Pasta
Garlic Bread
Caprese Salad
Get your Pit Boss running at 275°F. Competition blend pellets — maple, hickory, cherry — are the move here. They give the meat a beautiful, subtle smoke that doesn't overpower the marinara.
Place your Lodge cast iron pot on the lower rack. Add the olive oil, chopped onion, minced garlic, and marinara. Give it a stir. Then set your wire rack directly above the pot. Crumble the Italian sausage and ground beef onto the wire rack in loose chunks — you want texture, not a solid patty. Season with salt and pepper. As the meat cooks, those drippings fall right into the sauce below. That's the magic move.
Close the lid and let everything cook at 275°F for 45–60 minutes, until the ground meat is fully cooked through (internal temp 160°F). The sauce will be simmering, the drippings dropping in, and the smoke working both levels at once. Stir the sauce once or twice while it goes.
While everything smokes, boil your ziti in well-salted water on the stovetop. Cook it al dente — it's going back in the smoker so you don't want it fully soft. Drain and set aside.
Remove the wire rack. Add the cooked ground meat into the cast iron pot with the sauce and stir to combine. Fold in the ziti until every piece is coated in that smoky meat sauce. Drop dollops of ricotta throughout and swirl lightly. Top with an even layer of shredded mozzarella.
Mix melted butter, minced garlic, and fresh oregano together. Spread generously over both cut halves of the bread. Place cut-side up on foil or directly on the grates alongside the ziti.
Bump the smoker to 350°F. Return the cast iron and garlic bread and cook another 20–25 minutes, until the mozzarella is fully melted and going golden and bubbly on top, and the bread is toasted on the edges.
Layer sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella on a plate. Tuck fresh basil in between. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze, hit it with salt and pepper. Done in 3 minutes and it looks like you tried.
Let the ziti rest 5 minutes before digging in — it'll set up a little and be easier to serve. Plate alongside the garlic bread and Caprese. Friday night done right. C'mon back and enjoy, y'all.
The wire rack above the cast iron is the whole game — don't skip it. The Italian sausage drippings seasoning the marinara below is what gives this sauce a depth you can't replicate any other way. Also, cook that pasta al dente before it goes in. Mushy pasta is a crime.