A quick and easy pasta dish with spicy Italian Sausage. Made from scratch with a tasty homemade marinara sauce.
I started by browning a good quality Italian Sausage with chopped onion. Then added a modified version of my 30-minute marinara sauce. Mixed with cook pasta some mozzarella and topped with more mozzarella.
Rating
An easy family favorite.
Notes: Most recipes called for a jarred sauce. I really couldn’t do it. But you could if you want. Also, more cheese is always good.
Start by chopping one medium onion, add to one pound Italian Sausage and 2-3 cloves minced garlic. Brown over medium high heat. About 10 minutes. At the same time cook one pound penne pasta according to package instructions and drain. Preheat oven to 375.
Add 28 oz. crushed tomatoes, 2 t basil, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/2 t crushed red pepper, 1/2 t oregano, and 1/4 t sugar. Turn to low and simmer for a few minutes.
Cut 8 oz of mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes.
Add the sauce to the pasta. Add the cubed mozzarella and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Mix well.
Add to a casserole pan and top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.
Bake at 375 until golden brown. About 30 minutes.
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Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 onion - medium chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 8 oz mozzarella - cubed 1/2 inch
- 8 oz mozzarella - shredded
Instructions
- Start by chopping one medium onion, add to one pound Italian Sausage and 2-3 cloves minced/crushed garlic. Brown over medium-high heat. About 10 minutes. At the same time cook one pound penne pasta according to package instructions and drain. Preheat oven to 375.
- Add 28 oz. crushed tomatoes, 2 t basil, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/2 t crushed red pepper, 1/2 t oregano, and 1/4 t sugar. Turn to low and simmer for a few minutes
- Cut 8 oz of mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Add the sauce to the pasta. Add the cubed mozzarella and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Mix well.
- Add to a casserole pan and top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.
- Bake at 375 until golden brown. About 30 minutes.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
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Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
I'm DrDan and welcome to my blog. You will find delicious easy everyday recipes mostly for smaller households. Please look around and enjoy your visit. 
Susan
April 19, 2019 at 3:25 pmThe narrative says 1 tablespoon garlic but the recipe says 1 teaspoon. Please clarify! Thank you.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
April 19, 2019 at 3:37 pmHi Susan,
Welcome to the blog.
That is tablespoons. Thanks for the proofread. I have updated the amount to 2-3 cloves which is how I would term it now. This recipe will be rewritten soon with updated photos etc. The recipe stays the same.
Garlic is a bit to taste and with my wife, I would double the garlic to keep her happy.
Again thanks for the questions and sorry for the confusion.
Dan
Judy Uhl
February 15, 2019 at 10:16 amI think I’ll try this with ground beef. Do you think I could use my 2 qt round casserole?
DrDan
February 15, 2019 at 10:41 amHi Judy,
Yes to the ground beef but it may be a bit bland lacking the spices in the sausage.
The pan size is about 3 qt. So it won’t fit. The pan I used was a 12 inch “everyday” pan which is about 3 qt. A full size casserole pan is also about 3 qt.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Rachel
March 24, 2015 at 11:23 pmThis is one of my favorite pasta dishes. What an excellent recipe. This would go over very well with my family!
DrDan
March 26, 2015 at 10:14 pmThis is a nice dish. I forget about it at times… I need to do it more.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
smors14
December 5, 2012 at 5:19 pmMade this last night for myself and hubby – it was awesome and LOTS of leftovers :)
Doug DeFrees
February 3, 2012 at 4:26 pmHere’s my blog post about my baked ziti dinner: https://sundaydinnerfortwo.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-ziti-and-why-should-i-bake-it.html
Doug
January 29, 2012 at 11:04 amThanks, Dr. Dan. The upcoming post will be about tonight’s dinner featuring your recipe.
Dr Dan
January 29, 2012 at 8:33 amThe casserole is 2.5 qt and about 1 1/2 inches deep. I like a lot of top surface area. Good luck with your new blog Sunday, dinner for two
Doug
January 28, 2012 at 11:01 pmWhat size casserole pan did you use?
Chris
January 22, 2012 at 12:52 pmThere are some decent jarred sauces out there these days, it’s not just Ragu and Prego anymore. That being said, I still prefer making my own too.