Kate's Baked Italian Sausage Zucchini Yellow Squash Rigatoni
- Ready In:
- 2hrs
- Ingredients:
- 37
- Yields:
-
1 casserole
- Serves:
- 16
ingredients
-
Italian Sausage Meat Sauce
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 lb mild Italian turkey sausage
- 1 lb ground beef (or additional 1 lb mild Italian turkey sausage)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 3⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- salt, to taste
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar
- 1⁄4 cup white wine (optional)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
-
Sauteed Squash
- 3 zucchini, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
- 3 yellow squash, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt and black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
-
Parmesan Garlic Breadcrumb Topping
- 2 cups breadcrumbs (I grind 5 slices of whole wheat bread in a food processor)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
- salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
-
Pasta
- 16 ounces penne rigate (I use whole wheat Penne Rigate, any kind of tube or spiral pasta will be fine)
-
Cheese Mixture
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 -3 eggs
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
directions
- ITALIAN SAUSAGE MEAT SAUCE: Caramelize onion in olive oil. Remove casings from sausage and add sausage and ground beef to pan breaking into bits and browning. Add garlic and sauté two minutes more. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water, basil, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, sugar, and wine. Boil and simmer, covered, for at least 40 minutes up to 3 hours. Add chopped parsley to Meat Sauce during the last 15 minutes of simmering sauce.
- SAUTEED SQUASH: Sprinkle squash with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Sauté squash in olive oil until browned on both sides. Transfer to drain on plates lined with paper towels.
- PARMESAN GARLIC BREADCRUMB TOPPING: Combine breadcrumbs, marjoram or oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, sugar, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese.
- PASTA: Boil salted water for pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions.
- CHEESE MIXTURE: Combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, and black pepper.
- ASSEMBLY: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a large baking pan with olive oil. In baking pan, spread pasta across the bottom coating with a small amount of olive oil. Remove bay leaves from Meat Sauce. Top pasta with half of Meat Sauce. Place Sautéed Squash at an angle half in half out of Meat Sauce. Top Sautéed Squash with other half of Meat Sauce.
- Spread dollops of Cheese Mixture evenly across the top of the Meat Sauce. Sprinkle Breadcrumb Topping evenly over dish.
- Bake at 350F degrees for 40 minutes or until crumbs are golden and dry and sauce is bubbly.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Garden Gate Kate
United States
<p>My grandfather did not speak or read a word of English when he moved to America from China at eleven years old. With a lot of hard work, he proudly became an US citizen and began his own Cantonese restaurant in Kingston, NY, from the ground up. He is not a trained chef but has a natural gift for combining unexpected flavors and ingredients into the most delicious dishes. Although the food on the menu is the absolute best Chinese food in the country, the really out-of-this-world dishes are the ones that he serves his family in the back of the restaurant. He doesn't read cookbooks or write down any of his recipes; all his creations are original. Growing up, I spent every summer with him eating these foods. Every morning, we would pick fresh vegetables from his garden that he would use to make the noon and evening meals with. He stuffed garden zucchini the size of my arm (of course, my arm was smaller then) with fresh lobster and shrimp. This is just one example of a simple summertime lunch for him. Without a doubt, his cooking is the greatest influence on my tastes in foods and my own recipes.</p>