Cheesy Baked Pasta With Sausage and Ricotta

Cheesy Baked Pasta With Sausage and Ricotta

Like a cross between baked ziti and sausage lasagna, this mozzarella-topped pasta is rich with ricotta and crushed tomatoes — and cooks entirely in one pan, including the pasta. The Italian sausage adds meaty depth to the sauce, but vegetarians can leave it out or use their favorite plant-based sausage instead.

Yield: 4 servings

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¾ pound bulk hot or mild Italian sausage (pork, chicken or turkey)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed

Pinch of red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving (optional)

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with their juices

1 (14-ounce) can crushed or strained tomatoes

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt

12 ounces dried pasta, such as small shells, farfalle or other shaped pasta

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces

6 ounces whole-milk ricotta (about ¾ cup)

⅓ cup grated Parmesan

¼ cup basil leaves

Black pepper, for serving

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Crumble sausage into skillet, using a spoon to break it into small pieces. Cook until starting to brown, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes (if using), and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in whole tomatoes and their juice, using a spoon to break them up. Add crushed tomatoes, bay leaves and 2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.

Stir in pasta and 1 cup water and return to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, pluck out the bay leaves, and fold in about a third of the mozzarella.

Top pasta with remaining mozzarella and dollops of ricotta. Sprinkle with Parmesan, then transfer to oven. Bake until pasta is tender when poked with a fork, and cheese is bubbly and lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. (If you’d like a more deeply browned topping, run the pan under the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes.) Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Top with basil, plenty of black pepper, and more red-pepper flakes, if you like.

TIP: Rather than put four ounces of unused sausage in the freezer and four ounces of unused pasta in the pantry, we used the full pound of each, upped the measures of strained tomatoes, fennel and oregano by a third, and added a half cup of red wine. Turned out perfectly. We’ll put this one in rotation. The fennel and the fresh basil really take it up a level.a