CHEESY SAUSAGE ZITI CASSEROLE

Road Tested with the Neely’s is one of my favorites on Food Network. They always have easy family style dishes, that look delicious. Here is one of the recipes that they showed on Saturday. They showed two italian dishes, that I plan to try. This Baked Ziti, has sausage, spinach, parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. It also has pesto sauce, as well as Cottage cheese to make a creamy sauce. It sounds really scrumptious to me…….we should try this one tonight! *

 

You will need:
* Salt
1 pound ziti
1 pound hot Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
*or your favorite sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 ounces pesto
(you can buy bottled, or make your own…I’ve posted some recipes previously)
15 ounces ricotta cheese or Cottage Cheese
1 (9-ounce) package washed spinach Butter, for baking dish
2 cups shredded mozzarella, plus more for topping
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan, plus more for topping
* Directions *

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add ziti and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute turkey sausage. Add onion and garlic and saute until the sausage is cooked through. Use your spoon to break up the sausage while it cooks. Add the can of diced tomatoes and pesto and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the ricotta or Cottage cheese, spinach, Parmesan and mozzarella to a large bowl, and stir to combine. Butter a 4-quart baking dish, add the cooked pasta, then sausage mixture and cheese mixture. Top with a sprinkling of mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until completely heated through and golden and crisp on top, about 20 minutes.

http://www.getoffyourbuttandbake.com