As far as I know, I’m 0% Italian but I’m 100% born and raised in Minnesota and that means I know a thing or two about a hot dish. Please don’t call it a casserole thank you very much. For my appearance on Minnesota Live this week, I whipped up my version of a dinner my mom made on the regular when I was growing up. She called it “Italian Hot Dish” and we always loved it. In my version, I use my homemade marinara sauce and I add dollops of ricotta cheese to mimic the lasagna texture and make it a little more creamy. You can certainly use a good store bought marinara sauce as well.

Enjoy!

Italian Hot Dish

Gather this:

• 1 lb bulk Italian pork sausage (or ground pork with Italian seasoning added. You could also use beef or bison!)
• 1 lb short pasta (rigatoni, fusilli and penne are all great options)
• 24 ounces marinara sauce
• 8 ounce block of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• fresh parsley or basil to scatter on top

Do this:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned – about 7-8 minutes – breaking up with a wooden spoon. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt then add the pasta. Cook pasta until al dente – it should still have a good bite to it. Drain and set aside. When the sausage is cooked through, add the pasta, sauce and 5 ounces of the mozzarella cheese. Fold all of those ingredients gently together and even out the pasta. Dollop the ricotta in 2 tbsp portions over the top of the pasta and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella over the top. Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes – remove the lid and a bake uncovered for another 5 minutes. Feel free to turn the broiler on for 1-2 minutes to get the cheese golden brown on top. Garnish with herbs and serve!