Baked Gemelli

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A cheesy, buttery pasta will always have my heart, but if I can’t have that, then I am FOR SURE making this baked cavatelli. It is GOOEY. It is CHEESY. It has TOMATOES. Best, of all, it is entirely one pot! This is an excellent weeknight dinner that is easy to pull together and dresses up a casual pasta night.

Highlights

⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes

🍳 Cook Time: 20 minutes

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Serves: 4

🧊 Make Ahead? – Yes

❄ Freezer Friendly? – No

🌱 Substitutions? – Yes

Ingredients List

  • 8 oz ground sweet Italian sausage

  • 12 oz or 1 lb pasta

  • 2 14.5 oz canned tomatoes undrained (ideally one Italian herbs, one fire roasted but you can mix and match as preferred)
  • 1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella + parmesan for serving
This recipe contributes 6 items to your weekly list plus 4 pantry staples.

Recipe: Baked Gemelli

  1. In a Dutch oven or large pot cook sausage over meidmu-high heat until browned, breaking apart as you mix. Drain the fat but keep the sausage in the pot. 
  2. Pre-heat oven to 400°.
  3. Add all ingredients through crushed red pepper (pasta, tomatoes, chicken broth, water, olive oil, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes). Stir, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally (note, pasta will not be cooked at this stage). 
  4. Remove lid and top pasta with the mozzarella. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the pasta is cooked and the cheese is melty. Let stand for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with additional cheese and serve!

Family Tips

  • If sausage is not your jam, feel free to swap for ground turkey or omit the protein entirely! If you do that, I recommend using a full pound of pasta to make sure this is robust enough for 4 people or serving with some bread to sop up all the yummy tomatoes!
  • I like to have one of the cans of tomatoes be “fire roasted” to add a little extra spice and flavor but you can certainly keep them to both be Italian herb style.
  • Similarly, if you don’t like spice go ahead and omit the red pepper flakes!
  • If you want to add a little extra vegetable to this dish you can mix in spinach right when removed from the oven as the pasta will be super hot and it will mix in easily.

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