Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage

A serving spoon dipping into a large casserole dish filled with baked ziti topped with melted cheese.

5 from 6 votes

Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage

Baked ziti with sausage and peppers is fantastic for feeding a crowd! Make-ahead and freezer directions are included, which makes entertaining or weeknight cooking even easier.

Prep Time4

Cook Time1 5

Total Time1 25

Course: Entrees, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Baked Pasta, Ziti

Servings: Servings

Calories: 331.5kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

13 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
4 links pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage cut into ½-inch semi-circles
1 ⅓ cups low fat (2%) cottage cheese
2 ¾ cups marinara sauce (your favorite kind), divided
1 whole roasted red pepper chopped
¾ cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese divided
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
5 basil leaves thinly sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and salt well. Add the penne pasta and cook 2 minutes less than what is stated on the package directions (it will be cooking further when baked). Drain and rinse with cold water.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Add the sausages and cook until browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Place the cottage cheese in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add ¼ cup marinara sauce to the cottage cheese and stir to combine. Stir in the pasta, sausages and roasted red peppers. Stir until the ingredients are coated with the sauce.
Coat a 7 x 11-inch baking dish (see note below) with cooking spray. Spread ¾ cup marinara sauce along the bottom. Spread half of the pasta mixture over the marinara sauce, arranging it evenly over the bottom of the dish.
Top the pasta with 1 cup marinara sauce, half of the mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and all of the basil.
Repeat the layer with the remaining pasta, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake until bubbling, about 50 minutes.
Uncover and bake for additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Serve.

Video

Notes

NOTE: A 9 x 13-inch baking dish can also be used. Reduce the cooking time by about 5 minutes.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I provide nutritional information for my recipes as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using the LoseIt! calculator and Weight Watchers points are calculated using the Recipe Builder on their site. While I attempt to provide information that is as accurate as possible, you should calculate the nutritional information independently before relying on it.

Nutrition