Johnny Marzetti (Ohio Beef and Cheddar Pasta Bake)
Columbus, Ohio's signature casserole: corkscrew pasta, ground beef, mushrooms and hand-crushed tomatoes stirred with sharp cheddar and baked under more cheddar until browned and bubbling.
Edited by JP Lambiase
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Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Johnny Marzetti is pasta, ground beef and vegetables in tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked, and it has been called the signature dish of Columbus, Ohio (Wikipedia:). Wikipedia gives the local legend: it began at Marzetti's, an Italian restaurant opened in 1896 at Woodruff Avenue and High Street by an Italian immigrant, Teresa Marzetti. Then it takes the legend apart: the T. Marzetti Company, the salad dressing company that carries her name, and its historians say they have found no evidence for the story and no such dish on any menu in the corporate archives, and Columbus Monthly reported that the link between the dish and the restaurant was made only after Teresa Marzetti died in 1972.
Even the namesake moves around. The Columbus Metropolitan Library's caption for a 1974 Columbus Dispatch cookbook recipe says the dish began at the Marzetti restaurant in the 1920s and "was named for the owner's brother" because he loved it. Tasting Table (Harmony Colangelo, March 1, 2023) calls Mr. Marzetti a relative of Teresa's sister-in-law who was real but had little to do with the dish. What is solid is that Ohio ate it: Wikipedia cites Dispatch recipes from 1953 (with ground beef, ground pork and tomato soup) and 1956 (with mushrooms, "everybody's favorite"), Columbus school cafeterias serving it by the 1970s, and US Army mess halls in the Panama Canal Zone, where it was "Johnny Mazetti" and came with green olives and celery. It is the Midwest's answer to the layered Mediterranean pasta bakes, stirred together instead of stacked.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Columbus, Ohio's signature casserole: corkscrew pasta, ground beef, mushrooms and hand-crushed tomatoes stirred with sharp cheddar and baked under more cheddar until browned and bubbling.
🇬🇷 The original
Greece layers pasta and cinnamon-spiced meat sauce under a thick béchamel cap. See the Greek Pastitsio (Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce and Béchamel) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Cheese in and on top
Cheddar stirred into the hot sauce melts into it and binds the pasta, so a square holds together; the cup on top browns into a crust.
Hand-crushed whole tomatoes
They break into uneven pieces with plenty of juice, which the slightly underdone pasta drinks up in the oven instead of drying out.
🧰 You'll need 6 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F and oil a 9x13-inch baking dish. Boil the pasta in well-salted water 2 minutes less than the package says, drain and set aside.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion 3 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes, until soft.
- Step 3
Add the beef and cook, breaking it up, 7 to 10 minutes, until browned with no pink left. Spoon off most of the fat.
- Step 4
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the crushed tomatoes and juice, the salt, pepper and oregano. Stir in 2 cups of the cheddar.
- Step 5
Tip the pasta into the baking dish, pour the meat sauce over and mix gently. Scatter the last cup of cheddar over the top.
- Step 6
Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbling and the center reads 165°F. Rest 10 minutes so it cuts into neat squares.
Johnny Marzetti (Ohio Beef and Cheddar Pasta Bake)
Serves 10 · one 9x13-inch pan · 1 hr 20 min total
Pasta
- 12 oz (340 g) cavatappi or elbow macaroni
- Salt, for the pasta water
Meat sauce
- 2 tbsp (27 g) olive oil, plus more for the dish
- 1 large onion (about 7 oz / 200 g), chopped
- 8 oz (227 g) cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) ground beef, 85% lean
- One 28-oz (794 g) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juice
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano, optional
Cheese
- 12 oz (340 g) sharp cheddar, shredded (about 3 cups), divided
Equipment: Oven, 9x13-inch baking dish, Large skillet, Instant-read thermometer, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F and oil a 9x13-inch baking dish. Boil the pasta in well-salted water 2 minutes less than the package says, drain and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion 3 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes, until soft.
- Add the beef and cook, breaking it up, 7 to 10 minutes, until browned with no pink left. Spoon off most of the fat.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the crushed tomatoes and juice, the salt, pepper and oregano. Stir in 2 cups of the cheddar.
- Tip the pasta into the baking dish, pour the meat sauce over and mix gently. Scatter the last cup of cheddar over the top.
- Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbling and the center reads 165°F. Rest 10 minutes so it cuts into neat squares.
Adapted from "Johnny Marzetti", Michigan State University Culinary Services, adapted there from the Ohio Historical Society, 10 to 12 servings in a 10x15-inch dish. We follow its build (olive oil, onion, mushrooms, ground beef, a can of hand-crushed whole tomatoes, cheddar stirred in and on top, cavatappi, 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes) scaled to a 9x13: 1 1/2 lb beef instead of 2, 12 oz pasta instead of 1 lb and 12 oz cheddar instead of 1 1/2 lb, keeping the full 28-oz can of tomatoes so it stays saucy. Draining the beef fat, the seasoning amounts and the 165°F check are ours. Estimated cost: about $21.43 for the pan, about $2.14 a serving. eatatstate.msu.edu. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Make ahead: assemble through step 5, cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours (house rule) and bake 45 to 50 minutes, to 165°F. Freeze unbaked up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator and add 15 to 30 minutes (Kentucky and Penn State Extension).
- Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated; reheat to 165°F with a splash of water.
- Canal Zone style: add 1/2 cup sliced green olives and 2 diced celery ribs with the mushrooms (the additions Wikipedia gives for the Panama Canal Zone).
- Cheaper still: elbows instead of cavatappi, and mild cheddar instead of sharp.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- It was invented at Teresa Marzetti's restaurant and named for her relative Johnny. Disputed: the Columbus Metropolitan Library's 1974 caption says it began there in the 1920s and was named for the owner's brother; the legend Wikipedia repeats says brother-in-law; the T. Marzetti Company's historians found no evidence for the story or the dish on any company menu, and Columbus Monthly found the link was made only after 1972.
- Real Johnny Marzetti uses tomato soup. Disputed: a 1953 Dispatch recipe used tomato soup (Wikipedia); the Ohio Historical Society version adapted by Michigan State uses canned whole tomatoes; Wikipedia says some versions use mushroom soup or tomato juice.
- It was served in the Panama Canal Zone. Documented (Wikipedia, which says it was common in US Army mess halls there).
- It left Columbus school lunch because of the 2010 school nutrition law. Folklore: Wikipedia says its cafeteria use declined after the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, but gives no school data.
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