Jump to Recipe

This pasta is a favorite of mine. Comfort food at it’s BEST. A perfect mix of pasta, sausage, a richly seasoned tomato sauce and cheese, CHEESE, CHEESE! Every bite is a piece of heaven.

I like to use a fun squiggly-shaped pasta but use anything you want!

Start by browning the sausage, adding in the garlic and spices.

Add in whole tomatoes and break them apart with a spoon.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes and basil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour into baking dish and add the cooked pasta.

Mix in torn-up pieces of fresh mozzarella.

Now top it all off with fresh mozzarella cheese, ricotta and parmesan. YUM!

Bake it and serve it up!

ENJOY!

Baked Pasta With Sausage and Ricotta

This is a NYT recipe by Melissa Clark that I have simplified and adapted a bit and it is DELICIOUS! Loaded with Italian sausage, fresh mozzarella and ricotta and seasoned to perfection. @mostdeliciouslife.com
Course dinner, Entree, Main Course
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 pound Italian sausage **I used turkey Italian sausage
  • 4 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ¼-½ tsp cayenne
  • 1 28 ounce whole canned tomatoes **or diced
  • 1 14 ounce crushed tomatoes **or tomato sauce
  • ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn **or 1 tsp dried basil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt to taste
  • 12 ounce pasta of choice **cooked to al dente and drained
  • ¾ cup water
  • 8 ounce fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces
  • ¾ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese **6 ounces
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°.
  • Heat oil in large skillet. Brown sausage until no longer pink.
  • Add garlic, oregano and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.
  • Stir in tomatoes with juice…break up tomatoes with spoon. Add in crushed tomatoes.
  • Add bay leaves and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Salt to taste. Remove bay leaves.
  • Pour into baking dish along with drained pasta. Add ¾ water and stir all together.
  • Stir in about ½ of torn up mozzarella.
  • Spread top with remaining mozzarella. Drop ricotta by spoonfuls and sprinkle with the parmesan.
  • Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with torn basil if desired.
Keyword breakfast casserole, mozzarella, pasta, ricotta, sausage