Stuffed full of hot little turkey sausages, chunky vegetables, and little pillowy bites of ricotta and melty mozzarella cheese, what is there NOT to love about this Arrabbiata Baked Penne Pasta?

It seems as though the unusual gray skied mysticism of the last week and a half has begun to meld itself back to the typical brilliantly sunny days to filter in through my little house’s windows. My two fur balls revel in these sunspots, periodically moving a foot or two throughout the day to maximize the warmth in their heat absorbent coats to tide them over to the next day. If I was to come back as an animal, the obvious choice for me would be as a cat - they nap, lounge, get fed and watered and faucets turned on for them to drink from, just because of their fluffy tailed cuteness. These little quivery-tailed creatures only grace me with their presence when I am working in the kitchen if A. Their crunchy supply is low, B. They somehow think I am overdoing it and need to rest with them, or C. Something is working in the kitchen that smells particularly appealing to them. If it happens to be C, then they sit and mew at me, trying to be extra cute to try and score a bit of whatever is cooking.

One dish in particular that motivates my little felines to mosey away from their sun spots is any variation of Red Sauce that I make. Sometimes I do a plainer version, based off of Marcella Hazan’s All-Butter Marinara, and sometimes I incorporate chunky vegetables and turkey sausage with a hefty amount of spices. There is something abut the aroma of onions, garlic, and tomatoes simmering on the stovetop that is magical, and clearly my cats agree with my assessment of magical because they never fail to turn up when my Red Sauce is simmering

A perfect make ahead meal, you can make the sauce before you need to use it, or you can make the entire pasta and freeze it, depending on what your schedule/need is for emergency freezer meals!

I have long had a love affair with Red Sauce. To me, the sweetness and acidity of the concentrated, cooked down tomatoes is one of the absolute best things I could eat, and there have been multiple times I just eaten the sauce by itself, sans pasta. That makes it similar to a soup ,chock full of vegetables and chunky sausage, glimmering and waiting for delicious little vehicles to be dunked into it like crusty bread or wavy potato chips. When I was a young teen, there are many a dinner that was going to use the leftover spaghetti sauce that I foiled as I had already eaten a huge chunk of the sauce as my meal. Spaghetti Sauce from my childhood until my early twenties essentially was doctoring a couple jars of commercial Spaghetti Sauce, but I made the switch a while ago to San Marzano tomatoes and haven’t looked back since.

Typically, I love the simplicity of good old Spaghetti pasta, perfectly al dente noodles slicked with garlicky, flavorful Red Sauce. I have a tendency to be heavy handed on the red pepper flakes, giving the sauce a good spicy kick. I had been craving, however, a baked pasta, and thought this would be the perfect time to perfect an Arrabbiata Baked Penne Pasta dish. Firstly I knew that while I could have happily omitted meat, there would be a sad, forlorn looking husband at yet another meatless meal. Somehow, he ends up getting a ton of vegetarian dishes when I want to throw something together in five minutes.I wanted the sauce to be boldly spicy, but have little pockets of cool, milky ricotta cheese to temper the heat. Then, I knew the funky notes of parmesan cheese are almost always welcome to adorn my pasta, and some melty mozzarella would be helping tie the whole thing together

Getting ready to cover up this Arrabbiata Baked Penne Pasta with foil and slide it in the oven!

The sauce comes together easily. One of the important things about searing a good little crust onto the sausages is to put them in the pot and let them sit, unmoved until you flip them. Then, you let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing them, as this will allow the juices to redistribute in the sausage links and it makes the meat cool enough to handle to slice with no problems. I also love the fact that once you get everything into the pot you let it simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. The completely beautiful thing about this sauce is that you can adjust the heat level up or down, depending on your preference. If you are more sensitive to heat, you can omit the red pepper flakes as the sausage links are typically seasoned hot enough if you buy the “Hot” style. I used 1 1/2 Tsp of red pepper flakes and honestly would have been happy going p to 2 tsp, but I think my heat tolerance to spicy food is a bit better than my husbands. If you let the sauce sit overnight, the flavors develop and marry even more overnight so it is totally not necessary to make this in a single shot.

The sauce ends up thick with onions, peppers, mushrooms, and sliced sausages. I use turkey sausages, but pork will be delicious if you are a pork eater. The heat of the red pepper flakes zips through the tangy tomato sauce, which the natural acidity of the tomatoes is balanced with just a bit of sugar. I almost always have dried herbs on hand, so that is how I measured out this particular sauce for herb ratios, but fresh herbs are also spectacular in this sauce. The cool ricotta and mozzarella temper the heat of the sauce, and the penne pasta soaks up the sauce, finishing cooking to that perfect texture in the oven. Crispy corners and cheesy topped little penne create a wonderful cacophony of textures in your mouth, silky and slick with a bit of bite and goo all mixed into one forkful

Total comfort food, this Arrabbiata Baked Penne Pasta is one of my favorite incarnations of baked pasta, ever.

This meal is perfect for the cooler months - it is robust and hearty, bold and incredibly flavorful. Completely the thing to warm you up. The leftovers freeze beautifully (yay freezer meals!) but some of this dish ended up being our Valentine’s Dinner. A bit of my Italian Herbed Artisan Bread and a little green salad round out this meal, and since the sauce is already incorporated in the pasta, there is no accidental dinner snafus in this household

Top this off with some fresh grated parmesan and some chopped parsley for freshness, and you have an incredible meal paired with a green salad and some crusty bread.

Arrabbiata Baked Penne Pasta

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 12

One of the beautiful things about a baked pasta is you can prepare it ahead of time and let it sit overnight if you are pressed for time the next day, requiring you only to turn on the oven and bake it until hot. I sometimes make the sauce the night ahead if I have an abundance of energy, making my preparation time the next day shorter. You can also freeze this meal in a aluminum pan in case you need to make it far ahead of time, and just defrost it overnight the day before you need to bake it. It is a pretty versatile dish in terms of how much time you need to prepare it before serving.

I have a great love affair going on with the sweetness and quality of whole San Marzano tomatoes. If, however, you cannot find them or find them a bit spendy, regular whole tomatoes will do - you will have to adjust the sugar level up a bit as regular whole canned tomatoes tend to be much more acidic than the San Marzano variety.

You can, of course, omit the mushrooms if you are an avid mushroom hater - I just happen to love them. Substitute another package of sausage for an extra meaty version on this baked pasta.

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Package Hot Turkey Sausage Links, sliced (I used Jennie-O Hot Turkey Sausage Links)
2 Cups Chopped Onion (1 Large Onion)
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic (3-4 Cloves Garlic)
1 Cup Chopped Pepper (1 Red, Green, or Yellow Bell Pepper)
8 Oz Sliced Crimini Mushrooms
2 28 Oz Cans San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
1 8 Oz Can Tomato Sauce
1 Tbsp Dried Basil
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Italian Herb Blend
1 Tsp Granulated White Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt + more to taste
1/4 to 1/2 Tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper

For the Pasta:

1 pound Penne Pasta, cooked till just under al dente
8 Oz. Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
8 Oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3/4 Cup Shaved Parmesan, divided
Chopped Parsley, for garnish

Directions

For the Sauce:

In a large mot or Dutch Oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. It will smell grassy and fragrant when hot and simmer when the pot is properly warmed.
Add in the turkey sausage links, and brown on each side, roughly 2 to 3 minutes per side. You do not need to cook them all the way through, they will finish cooking in the sauce. Set aside to let the sausage links cool enough to handle as you work on the sauce.
Add onions into the pot, and reduce heat jut a touch if needed. Let sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes, until they start sweating and become translucent. If some of them start browning a bit too, that’s okay, it will just translate to a lovey caramelized flavor in the sauce.
Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, roughly 45 seconds.
Add in the bell peppers and mushrooms, then cook down for 5 to 7 minutes until the peppers start softening.
Add the tomato sauce, San Marzano tomatoes with their juices, dried basil, oregano, Italian herb blend, crushed red pepper flakes, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium.
While the sauce starts to heat up, slice the reserved turkey sausages on a slight bias into thin 1/4 inch slices. Add into the sauce.
Adjust heat back to medium high and bring sauce to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for about 45 minutes. Break up the big tomato chunks if they haven't broken down properly while cooking. Taste and adjust salt levels if needed. The sauce will reduce and thicken up slightly as it simmers, and the longer it sits, the better the flavors bloom ad meld together.

For the Pasta Bake:

Preheat Oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large pot, cook the entire box of penne pasta in generously salted water until just under al dente. This took me roughly 9 minutes or so to get the consistency I like, and penne pasta is a little thicker than other spaghetti so it takes a touch longer to get to that al dente stage.
Drain the pasta once it is ready, then stir into the prepared sauce. Be sure to thoroughly coat each piece of penne!
Carefully scoop half of the sauced penne into the prepared baking dish. Scoop 1 to 1 1/2 Tsp sized scoops of Ricotta cheese and evenly dot them into the pasta. Sprinkle 1/3 of the Mozzarella Cheese over the pasta and 1/4 Cup of the Parmesan cheese as well.
Layer the rest of the sauced pasta on top then again dot the Ricotta cheese evenly over the pasta. Sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and finish it off with the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
Cover entire pasta dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes to brown and crisp the cheese on top.
Serve with additional Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. Store leftovers in airtight container for up to 3 days.