Creamy Baked Penne - quick and easy weeknight meal. Penne pasta, Italian sausage, onion, bell pepper, spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, milk, Italian seasoning, and mozzarella cheese. SO good! Everyone cleaned their plate!!
Stir together whipped cream cheese, milk, and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
Brown meat with vegetables in large nonstick skillet.
Stir in spaghetti sauce, 3/4 cup cream cheese mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.
Add pasta; mix lightly. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cooking creme and mozzarella.
Bake 20 min. or until heated through.
Notes:
The original recipe used a 10-oz tub of Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme. The suggested substitute to Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme by Philadelphia Brand is 1 tub of whipped cream cheese, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning.3 cups of cooked pasta is approximately 1½ cups uncooked penne pasta.My favorite store-bought spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.Can Creamy Baked Penne be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. You will need to add a few minutes to the cooking time since the dish will be cold.If you are feeding a crowd, feel free to double the recipe.