Baked Italian Sausage Pasta

Baked Italian Sausage Pasta
Idea adapted from a For the Love of Cooking recipe
6 Servings

5 Jennie-O Hot Italian Turkey Sausage links, casings removed
11 oz. pasta of your choice (I used Ziti)
3 tbsp parmesan (I used Kraft)
93 grams fat-free ricotta cheese (I used Sargento)
2 tbsp fresh basil, finely diced
2 cups low-calorie spaghetti sauce (I used tomato & basil classico)
50 grams Fresh Mozzarella, grated (I used Trader Joe's)
1 tsp dried basil

Preheat oven to 400. Set a large pan (that has a lid) to medium and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set a pot of water to boil. Add sausage to pan, and top with lid. Add pasta to boiling water. Cook sausage for 15 minutes, turning and breaking up with a spoon every few minutes. Cook pasta for 11 minutes, drain and set aside. In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine parmesan, basil, ricotta cheese and 1.5 cups spaghetti sauce and mix thoroughly. Add cooked pasta. Stir. Shred now-cooked sausage with two forks. Add to mixture and stir. Place mixture into a baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Spread remaining ½ cup sauce on top and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and dried basil. Bake for 10 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes.

Nutritional Information: 401 calories, 45 carbs, 13 fat grams and 27 protein grams.

Review: Wow. This product tastes like the real thing. I loved the sausage and thought it meshed well with the other ingredients and cooked evenly. I was glad the fresh basil was in, with the dried, and the three cheeses tasted YUMMY! Austin was a fan too – this will become a staple. We also calculated the cost of this meal - $8.25 total – so $1.37 a serving!

Whole Pan