Mom’s Cheesy Italian Sausage Bake (Hippy-Style)

This is one of my mom’s recipes that she made often for my dad—who especially loved it when she used Johnsonville hot Italian links instead of ground Italian sausage. I just hippy-fied it.

It’s a super-easy dish to make and perfect for busy weeks. You can assemble it ahead of time and pop it in the oven when you’re ready to bake. It’s also a great option for potlucks, parties, or bringing to a family who could use a homemade meal.

Bonus: Adding a cup of cottage cheese makes the dish extra creamy and bumps up the protein, too.

This one is a keeper, promise!

Forgot to take a picture right when it came out of the oven, so this after we ate and I was scooping into a glass dish for leftovers :)

INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz. (1 box) protein penne pasta, or amount as needed (I use BRAMI’s)

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage, or Italian links (Johnsonville!) sliced into rounds for additional flavor

• Olive oil as needed

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped or sliced

• 1 cup 2% low-fat cottage cheese

• 2-14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes (NOTE: you can use 14 oz of tomato sauce or tomato puree in place of one of the cans of crushed tomatoes)

• 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped

• 8 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed or shredded

• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

• 1-1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Prepare pasta as directed, drain, and set aside.

3. While the pasta is cooking, put some olive oil in a skillet pan and cook the sausage and minced garlic cloves.

4. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan, saute for about 3 minutes until the onions become translucent.

5. Add the Italian seasonings, cottage cheese, and tomatoes to the skillet and stir well to combine. Simmer for about 8 minutes.

6. Add the pasta to the skillet, then add the spinach, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup of the parmesan cheese and mix to combine.

7. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top

8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.