Baked Penne With Sausage, Spinach, And Beans

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 tablespoon canola oil or 1 tablespoon olive oil, for cooking
• 3 -5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 fresh chicken sausage or 3 italian sausages
• 28 ounces diced tomatoes
• 19 ounces beans, rinsed and drained
• 5 1/2 ounces tomato paste
• 1/4 cup pesto sauce (optional)
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• 3 cups penne pasta, rigatoni or 3 cups rotini pasta
• 10 ounces baby spinach leaves, coarsely torn
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c- 1 c parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 in a large saucepan, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat and cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes, until soft.
• 2 squeeze the sausages out of their casings into the pan and cook, breaking up the meat until it's no longer pink.
• 3 add the tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens. stir in the pesto and some salt and pepper.
• 4 cook the pasta until al dente, drain it well, and toss it with the spinach, mozzarella, and about half the parmesan cheese in a large bowl.
• 5 stir in the hot tomato sauce, which will slihtly wilt the spinach.
• 6 pour into one or more baking dishes (it should be enough to fill one 9x13 inch pan) and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.
• 7 at this point the dish can be cooled completely, covered, and kept in the refrigerator overnight, or frozen for up to 4 months. bake from frozen.
• 8 bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (40 minutes if frozen), until bubbly and golden.