Baked Ziti With Spinach, Sausage, and Mozzarella

Submitted by KathyP53

"Delicious ziti recipe with fresh spinach. Easy!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 3⁄4 lb hot Italian turkey sausage
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1⁄4 cup pesto sauce
• 10 ounces ziti pasta, cooked
• 8 ounces fresh spinach leaves, chopped (stems removed)
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (3 ounces)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, onion, and garlic, and saute until sausage cooked through, about 10 minutes, breaking up meat with back of spoon. Add tomatoes with juice to pan. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in pesto sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Lightly oil 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella, and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl. Stir in hot tomato sauce. Mix gently until spinach is wilted. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese over top. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheese melt, about 30 minutes.

Reviews

[RedVinoGirl]

This recipe was FABULOUS! My VERY skeptical husband took one look at the fact that it was lacking ricotta type cheese (which I HATE and is why I chose this type of recipe!) and thought this was going to be awful. Boy did he eat his words (literally!) and LOVED every stinking bite of this. I used hot chicken italian sausage and I doubled the garlic and increased the spinach. I also used shredded mozzarella rather than cubed. The flavors are incredible. It almost tastes like a super rich tomatoe sauce but it's actually just the mixture of the pesto and the tomatoes blending beautifully together. It's truly unbelievable! I can't thank you enough for this one. It makes a ton and isn't ever finished by my 4 person family but the leftovers are great too! This is a 10 star recipe!

 

[Venus4605]

This is a wonderful recipe! My fiance requests this one often. We love hot italian turkey sausage and the pesto adds a wonderful flavor to this dish! I follow this recipe exactly (though sometimes I don't add the full 8 ounces of spinach, whatever I have on hand is usually closer to 5 or 6 ounces). Homemade pesto and fresh parm really add to the flavor. Thank you for a great recipe!

 

[Christina K]

This was insanely delicious! I was hesitant at first because there was no tomato sauce involved. I had no spinach but had turnip greens! I'm not a recipe person and didn't feel like shopping. I searched for ingredients I had on hand and this recipe popped up! I'm just flabbergasted! I will most definitely add this to my most wanted list of foods! Thank you so much!

 

[Maeve R]

Excellent. Just sent the link to a friend. I made some tweaks, see below, but I stuck to the main parts. Also FYI I've made it both with the Italian sausage and with ground turkey. Tasted great either way.

 

[Bridget Leigh]

This was wonderful! My picky 8-year-old kept repeating, "This is so good! This is really good! You have to make this again!" I used sweet turkey Italian sausage instead of the hot, since my kids complain when anything is remotely spicy. I also used a whole bag of fresh spinach, since we really like spinach and it's a good way to get the kids to eat veggies. Yum! Thanks for the new recipe, Kathy!