Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta (or your pasta of choice)
- 1 pound Italian sausage links
- 12 ounces whipped cream cheese
- 24 ounces Marinara sauce
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/4 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Fresh parsley (about ¼ cup)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook Italian Sausage in whichever way you prefer (I boil mine for about 15-20 minutes, until brown and fully cooked).
- Remove sausage casing and cut Italian Sausage into ¼ inch pieces.
- Prepare rigatoni (or pasta of your choice) according to directions on the box. Meanwhile, add cream cheese and marinara sauce to a medium-size saucepan to heat on low-medium heat.
- The cream cheese should melt into the marinara, making it a pinkish-orange color.
- Add fresh garlic to the sauce mixture and stir in dried spices (Italian seasoning, oregano, parsley, thyme, sage, and basil) to the marinara and cream cheese mixture.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Warm the cream cheese and marinara mixture until the cream cheese is fully melted into the sauce.
- When pasta is finished cooking, drain and put into a 4-quart casserole dish. Add the sausage to the pasta and mix until the sausage is somewhat evenly distributed.
- Pour the sauce over the mixture and stir so that it coats the pasta and sausage.
- Layer the top of the casserole with mozzarella cheese. Bake casserole for approximately 15-20 minutes, until the cheese, is melted. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.