Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sausage, Tomato, and Penne Casserole


This dish is one of my family's favorites. It is easy to make, very flavorful and delicious, and freezes well if you want to make it into a freezer meal. I broke up the ingredients below so that it would make it easier if you are making it into a freezer meal kit (see instructions below the recipe). I made a freezer kit version of this tonight and dinner was on the table in about 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked penne pasta

8 ounces mild Italian sausage
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 medium white onion, sliced vertically
2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 can diced Italian tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons Italian tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil)
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta cooks, remove sausage from casings (if applicable). Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes until tender. Add sausage and cook 7-8 minutes until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in canned tomatoes and next 6 ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Preheat broiler.
4. Drain pasta and add it into the pan with the sausage mixture; toss evenly to coat. Transfer mixture to a 11x7-inch casserole pan coated with baking spray. Sprinkle with cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serves 6

FIND MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES HERE!

To make it into a freezer meal kit:
1. Put uncooked Penne into a quart-sized freezer bag.
2. Cook the onion, garlic, and sausage (as directed in step 2 above). When cool, put this mixture in a quart-sized freezer bag.
3. Mix canned tomatoes and next 6 ingredients in a quart-sized freezer bag.
4. Put cheese in a quart-sized freezer bag.
5. Put all 4 freezer bags into one gallon-sized bag. Label the outside with the name of the dish, the date, and write the following directions:

  1. Thaw freezer meal completely.
  2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  3. While pasta cooks, add sausage mixture into a large non-stick pan and cook 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat. Stir in tomato mixture. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Preheat broiler.
  5. Drain pasta and add it into the pan with the sausage mixture; toss evenly to coat. Transfer mixture to a 11x7-inch casserole pan coated with baking spray. Sprinkle with cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

haha - i love anything that could even parallel to mac and cheese. bookmarking!

Unknown said...

I enjoyed making this for some friends. I will add a bit of cheese inside the mix and then on top next time. We really enjoyed this and that it took so little time.

Unknown said...

I really liked this dish. I made it for friends and it was a hit. I plan to make it again, but will mix half the cheese in with the pasta and meat and to rest on top. Thanks a bunch