Cheesy Pasta Bake

13 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl
Hands-on Time
39 Mins
Total Time
59 Mins
Yield
Serves 8 (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)
By Ann Taylor Pittman
March 2012
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Cheesy Pasta Bake is the perfect comfort food that the whole family will enjoy. Jar marinara starts gives the cook a jump start on  the recipe.

 

 

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces uncooked ziti or mostaccioli
  • 12 ounces ground turkey breast
  • 8 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 5 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as McCutcheon's)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 6 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
  • 2 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided (about 1/2 cup packed)
  • 2 tablespoons small basil leaves or torn basil

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 492
  • Fat 14.2g
  • Satfat 6.1g
  • Monofat 4.8g
  • Polyfat 1.4g
  • Protein 30.2g
  • Carbohydrate 88g
  • Fiber 2.4g
  • Cholesterol 72mg
  • Iron 2.8mg
  • Sodium 708mg
  • Calcium 224mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain and set aside.

Step 3

Place turkey and sausage in a medium bowl, and mix well with hands to combine. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey mixture to pan; cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan.

Step 4

Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and pepper; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add wine, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits, and cook for 4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in pasta, turkey mixture, marinara sauce, and 1/2 cup basil. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese melts and begins to brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with basil leaves and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

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Ratings & Reviews

JLBrooks321's Review

KimberlieL
July 03, 2014
I thought this was a great dish! Ok, so I used chorizo instead of turkey sausage, because that's what I had, but I tried to drain as much of the fat as possible. Like any baked pasta, there are a few steps so it does take a while to make but the bake time is only 25 minutes, so it was about an hour for me to cook start to finish. Really hearty and good- and plenty of leftovers.

westlick7's Review

peirrac
March 08, 2014
So hearty and delicious you can't even tell it's healthy unless you're the one that cooked it!

KimberlieL's Review

westlick7
February 03, 2014
Agree with the other reviews that it's good but not great. I used whole wheat pasta and I doubled the amount of crushed red pepper after reading other reviews that it was bland.

veryslowcook's Review

mta1971
January 10, 2014
I expected a semi-boring casserole but we really like it. I made a few changes. I used 60% of ingredient amounts and cooked it in an 8" square dish, which was perfect for 2 people. The only meat I used was 8oz spicy pork sausage. Instead of red wine, used porter beer to deglaze the pan, as my homemade marinara already had red wine in it. Subbed one frozen ice cube of homemade pesto for the fresh basil.

Jojopinky's Review

Jojopinky
March 03, 2013
N/A

kkirch's Review

slocook1
September 04, 2012
made this for our Dining for Women group - it was a hit

sukeedog's Review

veryslowcook
June 02, 2012
Pretty tasty but it seemed like a lot of work given the outcome. This is actually very similar to CL's Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cheese (November 2003), except that recipe is much simpler and (in our opinion) yummier.

mta1971's Review

sukeedog
May 19, 2012
N/A

peirrac's Review

beth38
April 14, 2012
I used ground beef and sausage instead of the turkey. Good recipe. The sauce makes all the difference in the world. I used regular Prego and Ragu. It tasted too much like spaghetti because of the sauce I used. I will be making it again, using a better quality sauce.

beth38's Review

kkirch
April 05, 2012
the whole family loved this recipe. Even my husband the meat lover.