Italian Sausage Casserole With Pasta Recipes

MAKE AHEAD ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Cut sausage into 1/2 inch chunks. I large skillet, brown sausage over medium-high heat, in batches and adding oil if necessary. Transfer sausage to a bowl.
• Pour off any fat from pan. Add onions, garlic and red pepper, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and fennel seeds; bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Return sausage and any accumulated juices to pan; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is firm throughout.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for 6 minutes, add spinach;cook for 1 minute. Drain well and return to pot. Add sausage mixture and provolone/mozzarella cheese; stir to combine well.
• Transfer to 2 greased 8-inch square baking dishes or 1 13x9-inch dish. Sprinkle with Asiago/parmesan cheese. Cover dish with greased foil, greased side down.
• To serve: Bake, covered with foil, in in 375 degree F. oven for 30 minutes or for 1 hour if from the refrigerator. This freezes beautifully (thaw in refrigerator before baking).

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PASTA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Prepare pasta as directed, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
• As pasta is cooking, cook Italian sausage as desired. (I like to pre-cook sausages, as they are easier to cut once they are already cooked.).
• After sausages are cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
• In a large pan, saute onion, peppers, zucchini, and garlic in olive oil until opaque.
• Season with cumin, thyme, basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
• Slice sausages into bite-size pieces, then add sausages, tomatoes, and pasta to the vegetables and stir.
• Spray large casserole dish with cooking spray and transfer entire mixture into dish.
• Top with feta cheese.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until cheese starts to melt.

SAUSAGE PASTA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Brush a shallow 3-quart baking dish with olive oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until very al dente; you still want it to retain a little bite. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain well.
• Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausage and cook and crumble with a wooden spoon until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add the onion and fennel; cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and season with salt. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water from the pasta. Turn up the heat to medium high and simmer rapidly to thicken the sauce and blend the flavors, about 10 minutes.
• Add the rigatoni and basil and toss to coat the pasta with the sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in half each of the mozzarella and parmesan. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Bake until browned and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

SAUSAGE PASTA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water. Cut pasta into 3-in. pieces. Stir the pasta, sausage and spaghetti sauce into meat mixture., Transfer to an 8x4-in. loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with cheeses. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. Melt the margarine with the oil in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Add the sausage meat and cook for 10 minutes, breaking up the meat with a spoon. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon; reserve.
• 2. To the same pot, add the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Stirring occasionally, cook until softened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the reserved sausage, the tomatoes, parsley, basil and cayenne. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• 3. Spoon the mixture into an 8x9-inch, oven-to-table baking dish to fit and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350°F preheated oven until the cheese melts, about 15 to 20 minutes.

BAKED PENNE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Place sausage and onion in the skillet and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Pour in wine, and cook for 1 minute, stirring, to deglaze the pan. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss with cooked pasta, and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle top with mozzarella.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

POTLUCK SAUSAGE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente; drain and transfer to greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink, 6-8 minutes, breaking into crumbles; drain and remove from pan., In same skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, oregano, salt and pepper; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add zucchini, mushrooms and garlic; cook and stir 6-8 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender., Stir in tomato sauce, pasta sauce and sausage; pour over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese (dish will be full). Cover casserole with a piece of foil coated with cooking spray. Bake 10 minutes. Uncover; bake until golden brown and cheese is melted, 15-20 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE ONE-POT PASTA

Steps:

• In 8-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Toast bread crumbs in butter 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until browned. Transfer to small bowl; set aside.
• In 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl; cover and keep warm. Add onions, bell pepper, Italian seasoning and salt to oil and drippings in pan; cook over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes or until softened and starting to brown.
• Stir in broth and tomatoes; heat to boiling. Stir in pasta; return to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 18 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked to desired tenderness and sauce is thickened. Stir in sausage. Stir in spinach; continue to stir 30 to 60 seconds or until wilted.
• Remove from heat; top with cheese. Top with basil and toasted bread crumbs.

PIZZA PASTA BAKE WITH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.
• While pasta is cooking, cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until just lightly pink. Add green bell pepper and onion to the sausage. Continue cooking until the meat is cooked through. Add the pepperoni, olives, cream cheese, and sauce. Cook over low heat until heated through and cheese has melted.
• When pasta is done, drain and return to the pot. Stir the sausage mixture into the pasta; stir to coat the pasta.
• Add half of the pasta mixture to prepared baking dish. Top with half of the mozzarella cheese. Spread the remaining pasta over the cheese and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning and place a few pepperoni slices on top, if you like.
• Bake until the cheese has melted and the pasta is heated through, about 15 minutes.