Baked Pasta with Italian Sausages and Cheese

Ingredients:

olive oil
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
fat-free ricotta
fresh mozzarella, shredded
uncooked sweet Italian chicken sausage
a pack rigatoni pasta
2 cloves chopped garlic,
one package frozen chopped spinach
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups marinara Sauce



Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Cover baking dish with a bit of olive oil.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a medium bowl, combine 300g ricotta, 6 tablespoons of the Pecorino Romano and half of the mozzarella cheese, about half the pack.

Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet, brown the sausage breaking up into small bits until cooked through; set aside.

Add the oil to the skillet and sauté the garlic about a minute. Add spinach and season with a salt and pepper and cook another minute. Return the sausage to the skillet and add the marinara sauce, cook on low about 5 minutes.

When the pasta water comes to a boil, cook pasta according to instructions to be al dente, drain and return to pot.

Put half of the cooked pasta into the prepared baking dish and top with half of the meat sauce. Spoon the ricotta on top of the sauce. Cover with the remaining pasta and the remaining sauce. Top with the mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheese mix.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the cheese topping is melted.
Enjoy.