Cheesy Veggie-Packed Baked Farfalle

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The past few months I have been stocking up our freezer in anticipation of baby girl's arrival, and that usually means doubling what we're eating for dinner and freezing half of it. Pasta dishes and casseroles work great when freezing, and this recipe fits both criteria. It contains a lot of vegetables, and I opted for turkey sausage instead of pork sausage to save some calories. Plus it allowed me to put some extra cheese on top :) Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 box (16 oz.) dried farfalle pasta
• 1 lb. uncooked ground Italian turkey sausage
• 1 cup eggplant, chopped
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 large red pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp. dried basil, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 cups reduced-fat Italian blend cheese, shredded, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting any salt or oil. Drain; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a very large skillet cook sausage, eggplant, mushrooms, sweet pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until sausage is browned and vegetables are just tender, stirring to break up sausage as it cooks. Drain off any fat. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

In a very large bowl stir together the pasta and sausage mixture. Stir in 1 cup of the Italian blend cheese. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.

Bake, covered, for 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup Italian blend cheese. Bake about 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Source: SK Original