A long, hollow, smooth Italian pasta tube, baked into casseroles in southern Italy and Italian-American cuisine — particularly the iconic "baked ziti" of family gatherings.
A wedding pasta
In southern Italy, ziti (the word means “betrothed” — zita meant bride) was traditionally served at wedding feasts, especially in Campania and Sicily. The tubes were broken into smaller pieces by hand at the table; a long, intact ziti was the celebratory whole pasta.
Italian-American cooking transformed ziti into the baked ziti casserole familiar at funerals, holidays, and church potlucks: pre-cooked pasta tossed with red sauce and ricotta, layered with mozzarella, baked until the top blisters and bubbles. It’s the classic “feeds twelve” dish — economical, hearty, and as good warmed up the next day.
Ziti vs. penne
Both are tube pastas, but ziti is smooth and slightly larger; penne is ridged with angled-cut ends (the name means “quill”). Sauce clings differently to each. Many Italian-American recipes that call for ziti work with penne in a pinch, but the texture and bite are noticeably different.
Find more foods by letter
Ziti starts with Z and ends with I. Browse other foods along the same letter.
Foods that contain a letter from "Ziti":