Italian Sausage Penne Bake

I changed this up a bit from the original recipe I played with a few years ago. Publix had their Italian sausage on sale for $2.99 lb. In my original recipe I used some of the chicken sausage that you can find in some of the grocery stores. Really, either one works. If you do use the chicken sausage cut it in chunks. Tonight's version was especially good! I had to change it up to use some of the things I had on hand (it calls for cans of diced tomatoes...I used Ragu). Like Shannon at The Bargain Buggy mentioned today, you have to be adaptable and make use of your stockpile. Sure, I could have spent more tonight and got the tomatoes at the grocery store, but I knew I could play with the recipe some, and it would turn out great. Actually, my husband said it was one of my better dinners! "Yay for me," as Ella says.



1 box penne pasta (I used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
1-1.5 lbs. Italian sausage (5 links), casings removed
1 jar Ragu
1 tablespoon tomato paste (use $1/1 Muir Glen to get it for $.09)
1/2 10-oz. jar Classico Sun-dried Tomato Pesto (the kicker!)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mozzarella)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I use Kraft)

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat about 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add sausage, with the casings removed, and saute until brown. Crumble with the back of a wooden spoon while cooking. Remove to a paper towel to drain off excess fat. Return to skillet. Add tomato paste, Ragu and pesto. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Combine pasta and sausage mixture, and spoon into a 13 X 9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with the cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Now, I realize that the pesto is probably never on sale, but I think it makes this dish DELISH! The flavors are just so wonderful. I picked up my jar at Wal-mart before I started couponing , so I can't remember how much it was. I can't image it being more than $3.00 or so. But, if you can't bring yourself to splurge on the pesto here's the original recipe for the sauce...

Here is the original ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
sprinkle of salt, oregano, crushed red pepper (to taste)
3 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

Add garlic to the sausage and saute while the sausage is cooking. Drain excess fat from sausage and return to pan. Add the seasonings, tomato paste, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes. Assemble as directed above.


I definitely think that the pesto version is better. But, the tomatoes were on sale the other week at Publix, so you may have a lot to use in your stockpile. Whichever version you do choose, be sure to leave a comment below so that others will know how it turned out for you!



Enjoy!