"Popeye's" Pasta

Have you ever tried sweet italian chicken sausage? I hadn't until this recipe!

I get (almost) daily recipe updates from skinnytaste.com and this recipe for Baked Pasta with Sausage and Spinach came across in the beginning of the month. I just had to try it!

It turned out well and made a fairly large casserole. The dish did have an (in my opinion) overwhelming italian seasoning taste. My second eater also wasn't too impressed with the green spinach though I didn't mind it - he isn't impressed with any veggies. Actually, he cringes with "green things" in food. I have found that so many recipes these days are laden with veggies, which makes it sometimes hard to cook healthy for someone who really doesn't appreciate them.

Lessons Learned: Try LESS sausage as I think I had too much. I would also reduce (to make it less noticeable) or eliminate the spinach.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup grated Romano
8 oz fat-free ricotta
8 oz part-skim mozzarella, shredded
14 oz uncooked sweet Italian chicken sausage, removed from casing (I think I had more...)
12 oz WW rigatoni pasta
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves smashed garlic, roughly chopped (I used a little diced garlic)
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
salt and fresh pepper to taste
4 cups Marinara Sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray 9 x13-inch baking dish with olive oil spray.
3. Bring a large pot water to a boil (salted)
4. In medium bowl, combine ricotta, 6 tablespoons of the Romano cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

5. In a large (deep) skillet, brown sausage making sure to break it up into small pieces until cooked through.

Remove from skillet.

6. Add the oil to the skillet and sauté garlic about a minute.
7. Add spinach (if you are using) and season with salt and pepper; cook another minute.
8. Return the sausage to the skillet and add the marinara sauce; cook on low about 2-3 minutes.

9. Cook pasta according to directions for al dente, but undercook by 4 minutes. Drain and return to pot.
10. Put half of the cooked pasta into the baking dish and top with half of the meat sauce.

11. Spoon ricotta mixture over the sauce evenly.
12. Cover with remain pasta and sauce.
13. Top with rest of mozzarella and romano.
14. Cover with foil; bake for 20 minutes.
15. Remove foil; bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are slightly browned.

Enjoy!