Quick Sausage Pasta Bake (Printer-friendly)

Hearty pasta bake with sausages, tomato sauce, and melted cheese—ready in 40 minutes for a satisfying weeknight dinner.

# What You Need:

→ Meats

01 - 14 oz Italian sausages, casings removed

→ Pasta

02 - 10 oz penne or rigatoni

→ Vegetables

03 - 1 medium onion, finely chopped
04 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
05 - 1 red bell pepper, diced
06 - 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes

→ Dairy

07 - 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
08 - 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

→ Pantry

09 - 2 tbsp olive oil
10 - 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
11 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

→ Garnish

12 - Fresh basil leaves

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat the oven to 400°F.
02 - Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
03 - Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage meat, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
04 - Add the chopped onion, garlic, and red bell pepper. Sauté for 4–5 minutes until softened.
05 - Stir in the canned tomatoes and dried herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
06 - Combine the drained pasta with the sausage sauce in the skillet. Mix well.
07 - Transfer the mixture to a baking dish. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheese evenly over the top.
08 - Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden.
09 - Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh basil if desired.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • Everything comes together in one skillet before it hits the oven, meaning fewer dishes and more flavor developing right where it should
  • The pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, absorbing all those savory sausage and tomato notes instead of getting waterlogged
02 -
  • The pasta needs to be slightly undercooked when it hits the sauce, or you'll end up with mush instead of perfectly tender bites
  • Letting the dish rest for those five minutes after baking feels like torture when it smells this good, but cutting into it too early makes everything slide apart
03 -
  • Use the largest skillet you have for the sauce and pasta mixture—it gives you more surface area for evaporation and better flavor concentration
  • Grating your own Parmesan instead of buying pre-grated makes a surprising difference in how well it melts and its overall flavor impact

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