Penne & Sausage Casserole

This dish turned out SO good. A definite winner that will be repeated in our house! I found it in my 2010 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook. It was delicious! Hubby loved it, too!

Penne & Sausage Casserole

1 1/2 pounds uncooked penne pasta (i used whole wheat pasta)

1 pound Italian Sausage (i used smoked sausage & I diced mine)

1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (we don't normally eat mushrooms, but still wanted it for the flavor; i only used about 1/2 a pound).

1 large onion, chopped

3 T. olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. dried oregano

1 1/2 cups dry red wine or beef broth, divided (i used the beef broth since i didn't have the other)

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) stewed tomatoes, cut up (i used the same amount of diced tomatoes & mine were the "italian" kind)

1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

1 cup beef broth

4 cups shredded part-skim mozzerella cheese

4 cups shredded fontina cheese (my store didn't have this but they did have a mix of a bunch of italian cheeses which included fontina. it was just as delicious!)

Minced fresh parsley, optional (didn't have this - didn't use it)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, cook diced sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain & set aside.

In the same dutch oven, saute mushrooms & onions in oil until tender. Add garlic & oregano; cook one minute longer. Stir in 1 cup of the wine (or beef broth). Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, sausage & remaning wine/broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover & simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain the pasta. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in each of two greased 13X9 inch baking dishes. Divide half the pasta between the dishes; top each with 2 1/2 cups of sauce 1 cup each of the cheeses. Repeat layers. (I only wanted to do this in one dish - I used an 11X15 dish. It was almost too much food to put in one dish, but it did fit! I put the sauce at bottom, then half pasta, then cheese, then more sauce, the remaining pasta, more sauce & remaining cheese. Got all that!? It was perfect.)

Cover & bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly & the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with minced parsley if desired. (This is how i did mine; even with the 1 dish).

Happy Cooking!