Ok. This was delicious, but the picture (at the bottom) was so bad that I had to add labels. Wow.

Not super different from the regular baked ziti my husband makes, this has a more homemade sauce, and it has sausage, and it’s a little more layery. Which he didn’t really agree about, apparently, because while I was waiting for the pan to cool so I could just cover it with tinfoil and put it in the fridge as-is, he took it upon himself to scoop it up and dump it into a tupperware. Would you do that with, say, a lasagna?

Recipe is from sweetestkitchen.com. Hers came out looking beautiful. Perhaps you should just look at hers. Hers also had mushrooms, which I, sadly, had to cut from mine. There was just no way to ensure that Matt didn’t get any. Adding them back in would be a delicious idea.

Penne and Sausage Bake

Ingredients
3/4 lb (so, 3/4 of a box) uncooked penne
about 3 italian sausages – I used hot, because those are the best kind
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 cup beef broth
1 14.5-oz can stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 bag of Italian-blend shredded cheese (except the original recipe said you needed the equivalent of 2 bags, but the instructions only provided for the use of one… so I kind of used 1 1/2, which… I mean, melted cheese is awesome, what do you want from my life?)

Method
Cook pasta according to package directions.
Slit open the sausages and scoop out the insides into a pan, breaking it up into chunks.
Cook over medium heat until fully browned.
Take the sausage out and drain on a paper towel, but don’t drain off the grease in the pan – you’ll be using it.
Saute the onion (and mushroom if you’re using any) in it until softened.
Add garlic and oregano and saute for another minute.
Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, and sausage. I reserved the tomato water in the can in case things got too dry, but I didn’t really wind up needing it.
Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, your pasta will probably be done, so drain it.
Preheat the oven to 350 at some point. Why not now?
When your sauce is done, spread some of it (original recipe says 1/4 cup, I say whatever it takes to cover the bottom of your casserole dish) in a greased casserole dish.
Layer half the pasta over it.
Now pour over half of the remaining sauce.
Now layer half of the cheese.
Repeat your layers with the remaining halves – pasta, sauce, cheese.
Cover with and bake for 25 minutes.
Take the foil off (or whatever you used to cover it with) and bake for another 5 – 10 min.

Yeah!