TL/DR – Italian Sausage Pasta Bake. A comforting baked pasta dish featuring lots of fennel and fresh herbs, Italian sausage and jarred pasta sauce. Great for weeknights! –
I realize it’s the middle of the summer, but I cook what I crave. Don’t freak out about the cottage cheese. I promise it works. This is a super tasty and comforting dish that will please even picky eaters.
Start by boiling about 6 cups of water with about a tablespoon of kosher salt. Quarter and thinly slice a large bulb of fennel. Dice a small sweet or yellow onion. Mince some garlic and a generous amount of fresh herbs. Depending on what is available, use basil, parsley or oregano or any mixture of those three.
Once the pasta water boils, add 12 ounces of pasta, preferably a funky shape, like Barilla’s Cellentani, and cook it two or three minutes less than the instructions suggest. It needs to be super al-dente because it is going to finish cooking in the oven.
Sauté the fennel and onions in olive oil for at least five minutes, then add a pound of Italian sausage in chunks to the skillet. Let it brown on both sides at medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and allow it to cook into the mixture for a minute or so, then deglaze the pan with either white wine or vinegar and allow that to cook off.
Add diced tomatoes and a jar of pasta sauce to the skillet followed by the minced fresh herbs. Mix this sauce with the pasta, which has by now cooked two to three minutes less than the package instructions and drained. Then add cottage cheese and parmesan to the mixture and combine everything well.
Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the mixture in. Top it with additional grated Parmesan cheese and bake it at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes.
Note: This is the type of recipe that depends on the quality of the ingredients. Since it calls for a jar of pasta sauce, choose one that is high quality or a known favorite. Also, try to use a sturdy, funky shaped noodle, something that won’t go mushy. Barilla makes a great one called Cellentani that I believe is absolutely perfect. Pictured here is something similar, but I really recommend the Cellentani.
For a much easier and faster flavor packed weeknight pasta, try Pistachio Pesto Macaroni or Pasta with Parsley and Anchovies.
Italian Sausage Pasta Bake
A comforting baked pasta dish featuring lots of fennel and fresh herbs, Italian sausage and jarred pasta sauce. Great for weeknights!
Ingredients
- 12 oz Cellentani or other sturdy, funky pasta
- 1 T plus 3/4t kosher salt
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large fennel bulb, quartered and thinly sliced, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups
- 1 small sweet or yellow onion, diced, about 1 cup
- 1 lb loose Italian sausage, mild or spicy
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 c white wine or 2 T white wine vinegar
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 24 oz jar of your preferred pasta sauce
- 1/2 c minced fresh herbs, preferably fresh oregano, basil, parsley or a mixture of the three
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 c whole milk cottage cheese
- 1 c grated parmesan cheese, divided
- nonstick spray
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large 9 x 11 or 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray and set it aside.
- Step 2 Bring 6 to 8 cups of water to a boil with 1 T kosher salt in the water. While the water comes to a boil, slice the fennel, dice the onion, mince the garlic and the herbs and set them aside.
- Step 3 Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and heat it over medium high heat. Add the fennel and onions and sauté for at least 5 minutes.
- Step 4 Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook it 2 to 3 minutes LESS than the package directions indicate. Drain it and set it aside.
- Step 5 To the skillet with the fennel and onions, add the Italian sausage in crumbly chunks and allow it to brown on both sides.
- Step 6 Add the minced garlic to the skillet and cook it for about a minute, careful not to burn it. Deglaze the pan with the white wine or the vinegar and allow it to cook off, scraping up any brown bits as it cooks down.
- Step 7 Add the diced tomatoes, pasta sauce and fresh herbs to the skillet and stir it well. Allow the sauce to heat up for 3 minutes, then taste it and add up to 3/4 t of kosher salt depending on your taste and freshly ground black pepper.
- Step 8 In a large bowl, combine the drained al dente pasta with the sauce from the skillet, then add in the cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan. Stir everything well, then pour the mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese over the top. Bake it for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
