Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce

I still cannot figure out how it happened, but I completely missed Favorite Ingredient Friday last week. I had a recipe picked out and everything! But all of a sudden it was Saturday, and then Sunday, and then Monday! However, here is my:


This is also the recipe I was freezing in the Zip Top Bag Freezing Method Tutorial that I promised to post.

Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce
1 lb Italian Sausage (either in bulk or thinly sliced) (I use turkey sausage so do not worry about draining the fat off because there is none!)
1 tbsp oil
1 onion diced
1-2 sweet peppers diced
2 large or 4 small garlic cloves, finely minced
2 x 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 lb of pasta, cooked
2-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Saute sausage in oil until almost cooked. Add onion and garlic. When sausage is cooked and onion is translucent add the peppers, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Mix sauce with pasta, pour into casserole (9x13 for whole recipe, 9x9 for half recipe) and top with mozzarella cheese.

Cook at 350F for about 30-40 minutes, until pasta is hot through and cheese is melted and just starting to brown slightly.

Options for Freezing

1. Freeze sauce, and then on baking day thaw sauce, cook pasta, pour into casserole and top with cheese. Bake as directed.

2. Mix pasta with sauce, and divide into freezer bags and freeze (this is what I did in the tutorial). On baking day, thaw, pour into casserole and top with cheese. Bake as directed.

3. Assemble right up until you would put the casserole in the oven. But rather than put it in the oven, cover it, label it, and freeze it.

Next up in the series, apparently in no particular order:
- Planning your shopping, prep and cooking
- Storing your meals revisited and revised
- Keeping track of what is in your freezer and what is the oldest
- Freezer lunch stash complete with ideas
- Freezer breakfast stash complete with ideas
- Recipes I used in my marathon cook that have not yet been posted
- What little I know about having a group of friends who share freezer meals
- Books and resources I love
- Answers to questions you post for me or email to me (email button is in my profile).


Previously in the series:
Introduction to the series
Why Freezer Meals?
My Usual Method
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter and Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Enchiladas
Kitchen Day - Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas (How To)
Blessing of Freezer Meals
Lazy Lasagna - A Freezer Meal
Sauce for Freezer Meatballs
Pineapple Tuna Cracker Snack
Freezer Cooking with Limited Space
Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Orange-Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
Converting your Casserole Recipes to Freezer Recipes
Converting your Meat Recipes to Freezer Meals
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Bacon-Macaroni Bake
Once A Month Freezer Cooking Simply Explained
Planning Your Freezer Cooking Shopping Session
Zip Top Bag Method