Olive Garden Neapolitan Ziti

Mille® 's Note:

Copycat recipe, and a pretty darn good one at that!

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 24 ounces sweet Italian sausage links or 24 ounces hot Italian sausage links
• 1 1⁄3; cups green bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ lb ziti pasta , cooked
• parmesan cheese , grated
• parsley sprig
• 40 fluid ounces marinara sauce
• 28 ounces italian-style canned tomatoes
• 10 ¾ fluid ounces tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon garlic , minced
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup fresh basil , packed,chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Bake or pan-fry the sausages until fully cooked, drain, cool.
2. Halve the sausages and cut the split sausages into ½ inch slices.
3. Sauté the bell peppers in olive oil over moderate heat only until their crispness is loss, but peppers are not soft.
4. In a heavy saucepan add the tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, olive oil and fresh basil and bring to a light simmer on moderate heat.
5. Add the sautéed pepper strips and cooked sausage and heat for 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Serve the pasta, topped with the sausage, peppers and salsa marinara and garnish each plate with a parsley bouquet.
7. Pass the Parmesan.

Reviews

[ratherbeswimmin']

Darn good is right. Wow, what a deal. The sausage, peppers, tomato sauce, garlic, and pasta. They all come together brilliantly for a divine taste sensation. I had to convince my husband that I hadn't ordered out from our favorite Italian restaurant. Many thanks :D

[Cooks4_6]

I found this recipe on another site and have been making it for years! It is one I come back to again and again. Great post

[jane49423]

We really liked this. I used some Hot Italian sausage - only about 1 pound, and that was plenty. Couldn't find anything labeled tomato puree, so I used tomato sauce. Also used 1 jar or Ragu marinara sauce - that was probably 46 fluid ounces. Didn't have fresh basil, but did have some homemade frozen pesto that I added. It made enough for one meal, plus another batch is in the freezer for later.