Baked Pink Sauce Pasta Recipe – Super easy to make and tastes better than any restaurant! Small shell pasta, Italian sausage, marinara sauce, heavy cream, Italian seasoning, ricotta cheese, red pepper flakes, shredded Italian cheese, and fresh mozzarella. Serve with a salad and some crusty bread and butter. Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, cook the Italian sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until crumbled and no longer pink. Drain any excess fat.
Combine cooked pasta, cooked sausage, spaghetti sauce, heavy cream, Italian seasoning, ricotta, red pepper flakes, 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend, and fresh mozzarella pearls.
Pour pasta into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining 1 cup of shredded Italian cheese blend.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until pasta is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
Notes:
You can use any shape of pasta that you prefer.
Don't like Italian sausage? You can substitute ground beef, breakfast sausage, turkey sausage, or ground turkey.
To make this a vegetarian dish omit the sausage.
My favorite store-bought jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Marinara, Rao's, and La Famiglia Del Grosso.
Can Baked Pasta in Pink Sauce be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole and refrigerate it overnight. You may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time if baking straight from the refrigerator.
Can Baked Pasta in Pink Sauce be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in the freezer. The casserole will keep up to 3 months in the freezer.
To bake the casserole after freezing, thaw, and bake as directed.