Cheese Cheese Cheesey Cheese

So I'm only a few posts in, and I've already put my love (obsession?) for Italian food on display.  Pasta? Delicious.  Italian sausage? Maybe my favorite protein choice.  However, I have been faced with a problem lately.  I can't seem to find a pasta sauce that I like.

Even if the rest of the meal is perfect, a so-so sauce can completely ruin the meal. I've tried a bunch of different brands, different flavors, but I still haven't found a really good pasta sauce.  I could make my own sauce, but that tends to take a long time.  When I get home after work, I'm hungry! I don't want to wait for a sauce to develop flavor.  So the solution is... compromise.  I found a pasta bake that looks delicious and starts off with a regular pasta sauce with a few added ingredients to spice it up a little bit.  So I gave it a try.

I'm amazed how adding a few ingredients can make a sauce taste so much better! The recipe I found adds Neufchatel to the sauce, which gives it a nice creamy flavor and texture. The original recipe calls for chicken, but I subbed Italian sausage because, as I mentioned earlier, it is probably my favorite type of meat.  Delicious.  With three different types of cheeses, this hearty pasta bake is the perfect dinner after a hard day at work (and then again the next day for lunch!).  Definitely making this again!  Recipe after the jump.

 
Three Cheese Pasta Bake
slightly adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients
1.5 cups penne pasta, uncooked
9 oz. fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. Italian sausage links
14.5 oz spaghetti sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. Neufchatel cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375º.

-Cook pasta as directed on package.  Add spinach to the boiling water the last minute.
-Remove sausage casing and brown in a skillet with olive oil.  Carefully drain excess oil.
-Stir in spaghetti sauce, garlic, and tomatoes, and bring to boil. Simmer on low heat about 3 minutes.
-Stir in Neufchatel until fully melted into sauce.
-Drain pasta mixture, and return to saucepan. Stir in sausage and sauce mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella into saucepan with pasta. Spoon it all into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish.
-Bake for 20 minutes and then top the pasta with the remaining cheeses. Continue baking until mozzarella is melted, about 3 minutes.


Enjoy!