Italian Ziti with Sausage

By GratefulSea

"Rather than hunting down high quality Italian sausages, paying top dollar then squeezing the meat out of the casings, just make your own! All it requires is pork mince and basic seasonings you probably already have in the pantry. Incredible flavour, a lot healthier (far less oil!) and you can adjust the flavourings to your taste!" This can be made with pork, beef, or a combination of the two.

Ingredients

• 300 g (10.58 oz) ziti or penne pasta
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion (brown, white or yellow), finely chopped
• 1 lb/500g (17.64 oz) ground pork (mince) OR Italian Sausages removed from casings
• 1.4 lb / 700g (24.69 oz) pureed tomato
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sugar (any type)
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• SAUSAGE SEASONING (not req'd if using store bought Italian sausages) (Note 4)
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 Tablespoon paprika (any type - all go great with this)
• 3 tsp red pepper flakes OR 2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt (table salt)

Details

Servings 5
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from recipetineats.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cook ziti for the recommended cooking time on the packet MINUS 2 minutes. (Note 5) Drain and transfer to baking dish. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent.

Add pork mince and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it turns from pink to white. Add Sausage Seasonings and cook for 2 minutes.

Add pureed tomato, water, basil, oregano and sugar. Bring to simmer, reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste (remember it gets spread across lots of pasta).

Pour the sausage mixture over the ziti. Top with cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Baked Italian Sausage Ziti Nutrition
Serving size 12.84 oz
465 calories
98 calories from fat
75 mg choesterol
56.1 g carbohydrates