Italian pork sausages can add new flavor and texture to pasta sauce, or you can serve them with marinara as the main dish. There are many potential variations, depending on the types of cheese used and whether or not the sauce is served with pasta, and if so, what type. The basic idea, however, is that you need to cook the Italian sausage first and then add it to the marinara, and possibly other ingredients, before baking.
Step 1
Brown the sausage. To do this, fry the sausage in a skillet with a little olive oil over medium high heat for about 10 minutes or until browned. Drain the liquid and set the sausage aside to cool.
Step 2
Chop the onion and the red and green pepper into course slices about 1/2 inch thick. If you are going to add mozzarella to the sauce, shred.
Step 3
Arrange the cooked sausages in the baking dish so they completely cover the bottom. Spread the chopped onion and peppers evenly through the dish and add the marinara. Finish with 1/2 cup of water or red wine poured slowly over the dish.
Step 4
Bake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Tips and Warnings
- You can serve baked sausage marinara as a stand alone side dish, with garlic bread, or poured over pasta, such as cavatelli or penne. Alternatively, you can slice the sausages, added them to ricotta and mozzarella, and then stuff the mixture in manicotti or other types of shells. You can also bake cooked sausage into a ziti or lasagna by adding it to the marinara used for the layers of sauce before baking.
- Thoroughly cooking raw sausage before combining with raw ingredients in a baked dish decreases the chances of food-borne illness.
Things You'll Need
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Red pepper
- Green pepper
- Italian sausage
- Baking dish
- Marinara
- Mozzarella cheese (optional)
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