What’s Cooking Wednesday – Italian Sausage Baked Pasta

You HAVE to make this! Both Will and Nicole gave it two thumbs up and they are tres picky! It makes a lot so you can split it and freeze half. I made the whole thing and we had tons of leftovers. Some of the leftovers went home with Nana & Papa Don & they loved it too.

Long story short….make this recipe!

Italian Sausage Baked Pasta as adapted from Recipes from the Cookie Jar

1 package Mild Italian Turkey Sausage (6 links) (~1 to 1 1/2 lbs)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 jar (798 mL) of your favorite jarred pasta sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce (in the ketchup dept)
1 tsp each basil & oregano
500g of penne pasta
2 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Make sauce below as it’s cooking.

Squeeze the sausage out of the casings and brown meat in a skillet. Remove the meat and set aside on a plate. There should be little grease in the pan. If there’s lots (i.e. if you use regular sausage) drain all but 1 Tbsp off. Brown the onions, garlic and bell pepper until softened. Add the pasta sauce, chili sauce, basil and oregano. Bring the sauce to a bubble. Return the sausage to the pan and simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Make sure the sausage is cooked through.

Drain Pasta well.

In a large bowl, mix together pasta, sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon into a 11X 14 baking dish and sprinkle remaining cheeses over top. Cover with aluminum foil spritzed with cooking spray so that the cheese won’t stick. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes so that the cheese gets browned.
Recipe Notes: Two big thumbs up from everyone. Yum! Turkey sausage works really well with this recipe and makes it healthier.

Don’t forget to head over to Shan’s to see what else is cooking this Wednesday.

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Tagged as: pasta, recipe, sausage, What's Cooking Wednesday