One-Pot Cheesy Sausage and Pasta Bake
If you’ve ever been to a party that had a kids’ food table and a grown-up food table, you probably noticed that everyone, of all ages, wants to eat the kid food. Us, too. This recipe is a rich marriage of meaty, cheesy flavors in an Italian-style family dish that everyone can fall in love with. You can use pork or turkey sausage, or leave the meat (and the anchovies) out for a vegetarian version. One of the cool things about this recipe is that it is truly one-pot: The pasta cooks right in the sauce, and the whole thing bakes in the Dutch oven, al forno style.
Serves 6–8
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ lb. pork or turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
- 5 large cloves garlic, minced
- 3 anchovy filets, minced
- ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 1 c. dry red wine
- 1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 lb. tofette or other short-cut pasta
- 2 c. water
- ¾ c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino cheese, divided
- ¾ lb. packaged mozzarella, cut into ½ in. cubes, divided
- ½ c. roughly torn basil leaves
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Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set a rack in the middle.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into crumbles with a wooden spoon, until browned and just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the onion along with a good pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta, water and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the pasta is al dente, 3 minutes shy of the package directions. Remove it from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano until it melts. Then stir in ½ cup of the mozzarella and dot the top with the remaining cheeses. Place the pot in the oven, uncovered, and bake until the pasta is fully cooked and the cheese on top is bubbly and brown in spots, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and serve hot.
