Rigatoni with Italian Sausage

If you haven't figured it out yet, we love Italian food. Really love it. I personally think it's one of the best cuisines available. I think I could eat spaghetti with marinara sauce pretty much every day, and my husband thinks the same about pizza. I made up this recipe after looking at a bunch of recipes on CookingLight and FoodNetwork and playing around with them. The end result was great. I loved the combination of spicy Italian sausage with tomatoes and cheese. It worked a lot better than ground beef does. I even think I'm going to submit this over to Ruth for Presto Pasta Nights. I hope you enjoy it, too.

My husband thought the casserole dish looked cool. And because it's just that good, here's another photo of it.

Rigatoni with Italian Sausage

INGREDIENTS
2/3 lb Rigatoni Noodles
1/3 lb bulk hot Italian sausage
½ medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp tomato paste
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 can petite diced tomatoes (I recommend Muir Glen Organic)
2 cubes Trader Joe’s frozen fresh basil (about 1 ½ TBSP fresh chopped)
~1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
¼ cup shredded Asiago Cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Brown sausage in medium skillet. When about halfway done, add onions and garlic and finish cooking. When sausage is browned, add tomato paste, salt, & pepper. Add tomatoes and basil and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine sausage mixture with pasta. Toss to coat. Place half the mixture in a large casserole dish. Top with half the Mozzarella cheese, half the Asiago, and half the Parmesan. Repeat.

Bake for approximately 25 min or until the cheese is bubbly.

*I recommend serving this with garlic bread and a side salad. Have you figured out yet how much I like garlic bread?