If I told you how many times we’ve eaten this meal in the past 2 weeks, it would be embarrassing. It is SO good! It’s a great meal for serving a large group and also a great dish to bring to a new mama or friend who needs a night off from cooking.
The sauce for this dish comes from the combination of the olive oil, butter, smashed tomatoes, and pasta water, but if you’re worried about it being dry, you can always line the bottom of the pan with a bit of your favorite jarred sauce as an alternative to greasing the pan with butter or cooking spray before baking. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
2T butter
2T Olive Oil
2 shallots, diced
1- 8oz bag spinach
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1lb pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
8oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
3 links Aidells Apple Chicken Sausage
Course sea salt or kosher salt to taste
Freshly grated parmesan
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat oil and butter in pan over medium heat. Add tomatoes, shallots, and 1/3 of the spinach. Cover for 2 minutes. Mix everything in pan and add another 1/3 of the spinach. Cover again for 2 minutes to help spinach wilt. Mix everything again and add remaining spinach. Let sauce saute over low to medium heat, stirring regularly, while pasta cooks. Once tomatoes are soft enough, carefully smash with a potato masher (a fork would also work, but the potato masher makes it less likely that the juice will squirt out).
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 1/2 the recommended time. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water before draining pasta into a colander.
While pasta cooks, prepare apple chicken sausage according to package directions. I personally like to grill them- quick and easy with minimal cleanup.
Return pasta to pan and pour sauce over top. Add 1-2 cups of pasta water, depending on desired sauce amount, but in my opinion, more is better. 😉
Pour pasta into 9×13 baking dish, making sure spinach and tomatoes are evenly spread throughout. Add cubed mozzarella on top. Slice apple chicken sausage and spread on top as well. Sprinkle with course sea salt or kosher salt and freshly grated parmesan.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
