Baked Pasta Caprese with Chicken Sausage

If you are in my life and you've had a baby, there is a 96% chance you've already had this dish. Either this one or my other go-to, Kung Pao Chicken Tacos. This is by far our favorite travels-well-freezes-well-doubles-well-makes-ahead-well-everyone-likes-it dinner out there which makes it a perfect drop off dish when someone welcomes a new baby. I usually get asked for the recipe so I'll just cut corners here and put it out there on the Great Ol' Internet.

There was a season of my life back in college and then shortly thereafter when I was on a freezer meal kick. It all started when, as a poor nutrition student, I nabbed a job working for Dream Dinners in West Seattle. Does everyone remember this craze? People would book a session, sometimes even a group of people as a sort of a girls night, go into one of their stores, spend an hour or two throwing ingredients into disposable containers and then leave with 5-10 freezer meals to cook at a future date. It was super hip for awhile there and I just checked and it's still in business so people must still do it. It's a super awesome idea and there have been times where I have stocked my freezer with my own "Dream Dinners."

Anyway, back to my college days. I don't recall the exact chain of events but I sort of had an "in" (or at least I tell myself I did) as one of the founders of the company happened to be a dietitian. I pulled the whole I-Wanna-Be-Like-You card and landed a job working for them. It wasn't actually nearly as glamorous as I'd envisioned, but it looked good on my resume and, in retrospect, gave me some good insight on what types of dishes freeze well. Plus it paid well and helped me put away just enough savings to make it through my 9 month nutrition internship in Texas that followed graduation. I spent a lot of my college afternoons in the store, filling containers at each of the prepping stations with the needed ingredients for each of the recipes. One the participants arrived, I would stand awkwardly in the corner, available for any questions they might have or to refill anything that was running low. Then, when the night came to a close, I would toss unused ingredients and clean up shop for the next day.

This pasta dish never went through the rotation while I worked at the shop, but I stumbled upon it when I, as a dedicated employee, purchased the Dream Dinners cookbook. They call the recipe Summer Pasta, but I've since changed the name as I always felt a little silly telling someone who had just had a baby that I was bringing them "Summer Pasta." In December. Obviously, it's much more flavorful in the summer months when the basil and tomatoes are at their finest, but these days you can find those ingredients year round and I can vouch that it's still pretty tasty in the winter.

I've tweaked a few other items in the recipe and always use whole wheat penne instead of regular. I also like to add red pepper flakes for a little kick but if spicy isn't desired, leave them out and increase the black pepper to 1 tsp. You can mix up the flavors some by using different varieties of chicken sausage - Italian works great as does anything with sun-dried tomato.

 As written, the recipe makes a pretty large batch but I usually like to double it and then transfer the contents into three gallon-sized ziplocks as a double batch can easily be stretched to feed the family (depending on their size) for 3 meals. Correction. It feeds them for two meals because I keep one of the bags for us! ;) I've included instructions on how to eat the dish tonight, or how to freeze it and then bake it at a future date. So without further adieu...

Baked Pasta Caprese with Chicken Sausage
(adapted from Dream Dinners)

1 pound whole wheat penne
12 ounces precooked chicken sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 ounces plum tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat a large pot of water to boiling and cook the pasta as directed to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. Combine the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl and stir to mix. Add pasta and toss.

To serve tonight:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour pasta mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan coated with cooking spray and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated and the mozzarella is just starting to melt.

To freeze:
Pour combined pasta mixture into 1-2 gallon zip locks (depending on whether you want to have one big meal or stretch it to two) and freeze. Thaw in fridge 1-2 days before baking as directed above.

Serves 6

Spicy Sausage, Cheese and Fresh Basil Lasagna

Want to know the best way to NOT start a food blog? Probably to finally take the plunge and start said food blog and then rarely post on it. In case anyone is wondering, we've been on a wild ride over here at our house! You can read more about it on my personal blog here but essentially we bought a place built in the 90s, we disklike the 90s....you can imagine where this is going. Before we knew what we were doing (seriously!) we found ourselves in the middle of a major remodel that involved altering every single room in our house. That was winter. Then came spring and my focus shifted to exciting this like my new yard and starting a garden. Spring also included a much-needed week away with just my hubby to BREATHE after taking on something as major as buying a home and gutting a good chunk of it with three kids 5 and under.

And so there you have it. I apologize for my absence and I hope to be more present here. I've been wanting to tell you all about this lasagna for a while now. It's one of my favorites! I don't know about you but I often find hosts apologize and say things like "we're just having lasagna" when they have us over to dinner. But I LOVE LASAGNA and I'm like putty in your hands when I'm served it alongside garlic bread and a good salad. Maybe part of the reason I love it when YOU serve it to ME is because I didn't have to make it. My only hang up with lasagna is the process of getting from not having lasagna to having lasagna. It can be quite tedious but like most delicious Italian dishes, they are a labor of love.

I probably only make it myself once or twice a year. And every time I do, I find myself thinking Why didn't I just make two so I could put one in the freezer for later and only do this process once a year? So, address that little issue by doubling up and making two. I'm a genius, I know. Buuuuuuut, even though it's a process, it's so rewarding when you take that first bite. I love this recipe because it includes a good kick from the Spicy Italian Sausage. And the fresh basil thrown in with the ricotta gives it almost a pesto-like flavor so you get the best of both worlds: a marriage between red and white sauces. The sauce here is homemade but I've "cheated" at times and just purchased store bought pasta sauce to save time. I give you permission to do the same as you see fit. Dig in and enjoy and expect this one to become a regular part of your repertoire.

Spicy Sausage, Cheese and Fresh Basil Lasagna
(adapted slightly from Bon Appetit Magazine)

Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound spicy Italian sausages, casings removed (I use Isernio's)

1 cup chopped onion

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes with added puree

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion (do not drain)

Filling:

1 1/2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves

1 (15 oz) container plus 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Assembly:

12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-ounce package

3 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 12 ounces)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

Sauce:

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausages, onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and sauté until sausage is cooked through, mashing sausage into small pieces with back of fork, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with juices. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled.) If you are using a pre-made sauce, simply brown sausage (casings removed) in a non stick skillet over medium high heat, breaking up meat using the back of a fork as above for about 10 minutes. Then add 1 jar of pre-made red pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

Filling:

Using on/off turns, chop fresh basil leaves finely in processor. Add ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Using on/off turns, process filling until just blended and texture is still chunky.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles on sauce. Drop 1 1/2 cups filling over noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce atop noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Spray large piece of foil with nonstick olive oil spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake lasagna 40 minutes. Carefully uncover. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Bake until noodles are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and edges of lasagna are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Transfer to work surface; let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8