Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

PointsPlus™ Value: 7

Servings: 8

Ingredients

¾ pound(s) Sausage, turkey, raw, casings removed (I found it w/o the casing)

1 medium Onion chopped

1 medium Pepper green, chopped

28 oz Canned diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp Tomato paste

1 tsp Dried oregano

1 tsp Dried basil

½ tsp Dried thyme

½ tsp Fennel seed

½ tsp Salt or to taste

½ tsp Pepper, black, freshly ground

12 oz Pasta, whole-wheat, uncooked, ziti, cooked according to package directions

6 oz Cheese, mozzarella, fat free, shredded

Crumble the sausage meat into a large saucepan and brown over medium heat, stirring often, about 4 minutes, remove sausage and discard any fat

add the onion and bell pepper (I hate bell peppers so I left out) Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. I also added about 3 cloves of garlic minced

add oregano, basil, thyme, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. I didn't have fennel, so I left out and added crushed red pepper flakes to add a kick of heat, let cook a minute or two. Boil noodles according to package directions while sauce is cooking.

Add sausage back to onion & herb mixture. Then stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and cook uncovered 5 minutes, stirring often. (forgot to snap a picture of this!)

Stir in the cooked pasta and half the grated cheese. Spread evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan. Top evenly with the remaining cheese. (I also added a tiny bit of panko breadcrumbs, cause I can never leave well enough alone!)
Bake until the cheese has melted and the casserole is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before slicing into 8 pieces and then serve.

The turkey sausage I used was only 2 points. I'm so excited I found it, will be using that all the time. The package said "breakfast sausage" but it's just regular ole crumbled sausage. Enjoy!