This is a real tasty dish...great for large groups...very popular.
Ingredients:
1 & 1/2 pounds sweet (and/or hot) Italian sausage, cut into crosswise into 1 inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, thin sliced
2 large green, yellow, and/or red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion (approx 1 pound) cut in half, then into 1/4 inch slices
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes in puree
1 can (15 ounce) tomatoe puree
1 tsp salt
1 pound ziti or penne pasta
1 pkg (8 ounces) part skim mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup freshly grated romano cheese
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees, use ungreased 13 x 9 pan
2.Prepare sauce: In 12 inch skillet, cook sausage over med-hi heat 5 minutes or until browned on all sides.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Discard all but 2 tbl of sausage fat.
4. Add garlic, peppers, and onion and cook, covered 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in the tomatoes with their puree, the can of tomato puree and the salt, heating to boiling ove medium heat. Break up tomatoes with spoon.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
7. While cooking sauce, heat salted water for pasta....cooking pasta for 2 minutes less than recommended time....drain well.
8. Return pasta to pot, and stir in sauce to coat. Add mozzarella and toss to combine.
9. Transfer pasta mixture to pan and spread evenly, sprinkle with romano.
10. Bake uncovered, 20 - 25 minutes, or until top browns and sauce is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes....makes about 10 servings
