Three-Cheese Baked Penne (Shelby Township, MI)

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2  cups  uncooked whole wheat penne (about 8 ounces tube-shaped pasta)
  • Cooking spray
  • 2  (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage
  • 1  cup  finely chopped green bell pepper
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  dried Italian seasoning
  • 1  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
  • 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
  • 10  grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1  garlic clove, minced
  • Dash of salt
  • 1  (8-ounce) can garlic-and-herb tomato sauce
  • 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
  • 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper and next 6 ingredients (through salt) to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until bell pepper is tender. Stir in tomato sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan, tossing gently to coat. Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Stir in mozzarella and goat cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until bubbly and top is browned.