Over the weekend, I had another craving for pasta. Other than fried rice and pizza, pasta is probably ranked third in my weekly cravings. When I lived in New York, I would pick up some baked ziti on my walk back home after school whenever I craved pasta. Almost every corner of every other street in New York had a fantastic Italian restaurant. The neighborhood I grew up in had about four pizzerias and two Italian restaurants within a 15-block radius. I’m not sure if all of the restaurants are still in operation today, but I sure do miss the convenience and access to good Italian food. When I moved to Ohio, I have to drive quite a distance to get to a good Italian restaurant. Thankfully, Ohio does have some really good Italian restaurants. The downside is the restaurants are fairly pricey. The upside with living in Ohio is I get to make my own variations of pasta whenever I craved pasta. Yes, I do consider this an upside since I get to control the ingredients in my food and have been pretty innovative with testing out different flavor combinations for pasta in the kitchen. When I want a quick pasta, I typically make my lemon cacio e pepe pasta. I would say I make lemon cacio e pepe pasta at least once a week. When I want a heartier pasta, I make a batch of my broccoli and sausage baked penne. I make a version of baked penne almost once a month. My intense craving for baked ziti this weekend led me to make my peppers and sausage baked cavatappi. I used cavatappi since it was the only pasta I had in my pantry. I was also able to use up some of the leftover peppers and onion I had sitting in my refrigerator to round out the rest of my pasta dish. My peppers and sausage baked cavatappi turned out so good, Kevin and I both went for second servings. If we didn’t have dessert waiting for us after dinner, Kevin may have gone for a third serving. I probably would have too.
Peppers and sausage baked cavatappi:
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ package dried cavatappi pasta
· 1 pound Italian sausage
· ½ red pepper, diced
· ½ green pepper, diced
· ½ large onion, finely diced
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· ½ can whole tomatoes, hand crushed
· 1 small (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
· ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
· ¼ teaspoon chili powder
· 6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
· 4 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
· 2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, divided
· 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
Directions:
1) Heat a pot of water on medium high heat until it starts to boil. Add a teaspoon of kosher salt. Pour in the dried cavatappi pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions two minutes short of the cook time listed on the package instructions. When time is up, remove the pot from the heat. Reserve about ¼ cup of pasta water. Drain the rest of the water from the pasta. Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 375°F. Set aside a casserole dish.
3) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the Italian sausage. Use a spatula to break up the sausage. Cook the sausage until it begins to brown and develop crispy brown bits, about 5-7 minutes. Add the red and green peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the peppers and onions are softened. Add the pasta water, hand crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, and chili powder. Stir to combine. Fold in the cherry tomatoes. Toss in the undercooked cavatappi pasta.
4) Pour half of the pasta into the casserole dish. Dollop the ricotta cheese evenly across the pasta. Add about half of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Pour the remaining half of pasta into the casserole dish. Top with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and mozzarella cheese.
5) Place the casserole dish into the preheated oven. Bake the pasta for 25-30 minutes.
Takeaways: My baked cavatappi pasta is very versatile. Feel free to swap in any crunchy vegetables of your choice in addition to the peppers and onions. You can also substitute other crunchy vegetables in place of the peppers and onions. I also love adding broccoli, carrots, zucchini, spinach, and arugula to my pasta.