Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

This meal is divine. It is one of my all time favorites, and I can not believe it never made it onto the blog. I was going through my files of pictures and found a whole slew of great recipes that were never added. This meal is....well its everything I love in a yummy bakes pasta dish

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*1 tablespoon olive oil

*1 medium red onion, chopped

*4 cloves garlic, minced

*1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes

*1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

*1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

*1/2 teaspoon dried basil

*1/2 cup heavy cream

*1 pound rigatoni

*10 ounces frozen baby spinach, thawed and drained well (can substitute 1 9-oz. bag fresh spinach)

*1 Lb. Chicken or Turkey Sausage raw, spicy or sweet

*8 ounces mozzarella cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 4 ounces shredded

*1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove sausage from casing and crumble with the edge of a large spoon. Cook until browned. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook for another minute.

Stir in tomatoes, oregano and basil; simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. (If using fresh spinach, add it to the pot of boiling pasta right at the end and cook until wilted.) Drain, and return contents to pot.

Add tomato sauce, sausage, spinach and cubed mozzarella to the pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop pasta into lightly greased 9X13-inch pan (or divide evenly between two 8X8-inch pans). Top with grated mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.