Baked Ziti with Spinach and Sausage

Last Sunday we had these cute boys over for dinner again.

At church there is a calendar that is passed around and people sign up to feed the missionaries each night.  I had told the Elders that if they ever had a hole in the calendar and no where to go for dinner to let me know!  They had an open invitation at our house.

Sunday after church I saw them in the hall and they said they had no where to go for Sunday dinner.  Of course I invited them to join us!

Fortunately for me I haven’t gotten use to cooking for our reduced sized family so there was plenty of food to share.

We were having a yummy baked ziti with spinach and tomatoes. 

Since we were having guests I decided to kick it up a notch and mixed up a batch of Melanie’s amazing Divine Breadsticks and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Since I had a few too many things that needed to be baked at the same time I borrowed my neighbor’s oven – I do that a lot.  How I dream of one day having double ovens….

I baked the breadsticks next door.

After the breadsticks were baked and back at our house there was a knock at the door.  There were three of my cute neighbor boys wondering if they could have one of my homemade bread sticks.  Who could resist this face?!

There were plenty to share and I sent the 3 boys off with their breadsticks!  Katie – if you are reading this post don’t be upset with “D”.  I loved that he felt comfortable enough to come to my door to ask!

Dinner was a success and yummy.  A quick and easy dish to prepare.  It would also make a great dish when you need to take dinner to someone else. 

The addition of spinach and pesto makes this a little unique as far as baked ziti dishes go.  The pesto gives it a wonderful flavor and I was able to use some of the pesto I had made and frozen this summer!
 

The recipe makes a full 9 x 13 and thanks to our two dinner guests there wasn’t much left.  I was grateful they were there to help so we didn’t have to eat it for leftovers all week!

Baked Ziti with Spinach and Sausage

1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausages

1/2 C chopped onion

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 28-ounce can diced peeled tomatoes

1/4 C  pesto 

10 ounces ziti or penne pasta (about 3 cups), freshly cooked

4 cups or handfulls of baby spinach leaves

6 ounces grated or cubed mozzarella cheese

1 Cup grated Parmesan chees

Cook  sausage, onion and garlic until sausage is cooked through. Add tomatoes with juices.  Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add pesto. Season sauce with salt and pepper.  You can prepare up to this point a day aheadand refrigerate. Bring  mixture back to simmer before continuing.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly oil 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Stir in warmhot tomato mixture. Plalce in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheeses melt, about 30 minutes.

Inspired by Epciurious

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Tagged as: baked ziti, main dish, pasta