Baked Pasta With Chicken Sausage
"This recipe makes two pans of pasta. Serve one tonight, and keep the other in the freezer for up to three months. To freeze, prepare the dish through step 4 ; let cool completely before covering tightly with plastic wrap and placing in the freezer"
photo by zobot
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Yields:
-
2 casseroles
- Serves:
- 8
ingredients
- coarse salt
- pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄4 cup vodka (optional)
- 1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb rigatoni pasta
- 10 ounces Baby Spinach
- 12 ounces smoked chicken sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 6 ounces Fontina cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 2 ounces coarsely grated
- 1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Remove from heat; add vodka, if desired. Return to heat; cook until almost evaporated, 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Add spinach, and cook just until wilted. Drain, and return contents to pot.
- Add tomato sauce, sausage, and cubed fontina to pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide evenly between two shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dishes.
- Top with grated fontina and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Note: If you freeze this dish, do not thaw before baking. Remove plastic wrap, and cover with foil. Cook until heated through, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Remove foil, and continue with step 5.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I couldn't find smoked chicken sausage or fontina cheese, so I used fancy chicken sausages that I cooked, then cut up. I also used swiss/mozz/parm cheese. Turned out great! The sauce was more work than I prefer, but was good! I might try with store bought sauce and spruce it up with 1/2 and 1/2 or something. My spinach clumped together when I cooked it with the pasta, I might cook it separately next time. Great recipe, and just enough different than regular pasta! Editing to add that we ate this from frozen tonight and it was great! I baked at 350 from frozen about 1 hour, then uncovered about 10 mins. -
This recipe is from "Everyday Food" magazine and it's great! I've made it with italian sausage, either crumbled and and browned or boiled then sliced. You can replace the heavy cream with 1/2 and 1/2 and let it cook a bit longer to thicken. I also put mozzarella on top - outstanding! -
Very good. Made only half the recipe and omitted the spinach, but added twice as much cheese. -
I made this for dinner last night and LOVED it! I had Italian Sausage, so I used that. I also used jarred spaghetti sauce instead of the tomatoes. I will be making this again! Thanks for the keeper, LMillerRN!! -
This is an excellent recipe! However, I did it the lazy way and used a jar of pasta sauce and frozen spinach. I also did not have any fontina so I used a combo of mozzerella and swiss. It is terrific! I will most certainly be making again. Thanks!
Tweaks
-
I made this for dinner last night and LOVED it! I had Italian Sausage, so I used that. I also used jarred spaghetti sauce instead of the tomatoes. I will be making this again! Thanks for the keeper, LMillerRN!!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>I am a wife, mother and nurse. I have 2 boys born in 2002 and 2003. I love to cook and try to make something new at least once a week.The picture is my little boy Luke taking pictures of his dinner like mommy. I have really enjoyed posting pictures and will try to improve and do it more often. <br /><img src=http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/lmillerrn/LukeSamDad.jpg/IMG alt= /> <img src=http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/lmillerrn/engagementpicture.jpg/IMG alt= /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/beartag_1_1.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/adopted_1_1.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/FFF/completedbanner.gif alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/FinishedJollyRoger_1.jpg border=0 alt=Image /> <br />[IMG]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/lmillerrn/FemCrewnamescomplete.jpg[/IMG] <br /><br /><a href=http://photobucket.com target=_blank><img src=http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e78/lmillerrn/FemCrewnamescomplete.jpg border=0 alt=Photo /></a> <br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/World%20Tour/ZWT2.gif alt= /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/untitled.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/200_artistrichardneuman-art-prints_.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/FFF/Switzerland-FFF4.gif alt= /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/200_PACpic.jpg border=0 alt=Photo /> <br /><br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/pacbanner.jpg border=0 alt=Photo /> <br /><br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo /></p>
