Italian Sausage and Mozzarella Baked Ziti

I haven't blogged for a while, primarily, because I haven't really been cooking due to the holidays. I haven't been to the grocery store since I got back from Taos, so I needed to throw something together with what we already had in the fridge and pantry. Not the healthiest (the way I cooked it) but this is a super good and super filling dish.  You can easily make this into something healthy without sacrificing any of the taste by substituting whole wheat pasta,  chicken sausage, and low fat ricotta. Another good thing about baked pasta dishes like this is that you can add a variety of ingredients to make it your own and suit your tastes. Next time I plan on adding in lots of extra veggies, ie bell peppers, spinach, zucchini etc. We are eating this with a green salad and that's it, no need for additional carbs or bread since this dish has plenty already. We'll have enough for dinner tonight and left overs tomorrow and then some.  It only took me about 40 minutes from start to finish to make this dish and most of the time was spent baking the dish, plus cleanup wasn't too bad which is something that I love. 

Ingredients

Olive oil 

1 large onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced 

3/4 lb. sweet Italian pork sausage, removed from its casing and crumbled (I used Italian Sausage without the casing)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

1/4 cup dry red wine 

35-oz. can whole plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice 

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano (from about 6 large sprigs) (I used dried)

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated mild pecorino cheese (I used romano but you can use parmesian or any salty italian cheese)

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried parsley)

1 lb. dried ziti (I used rigatoni)

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes (I usedt the type that come in little balls)

white mushrooms quartered

Instructions

Heat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a large, shallow baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large skillet, heat about 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crumbled sausage and sauté until the sausage starts to brown. Season with salt and pepper. If the sausage gives off a lot of fat, pour off most of it, but leave a little to add flavor to the sauce. Add the red wine and let it boil until it's almost gone. Add the tomatoes with all of their juices and cook, uncovered, at a lively simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Add the oregano and taste for seasoning.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, about half of the grated romano, and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the ziti (rigatoni) until al dente. Drain well and toss it with the ricotta mixture until well coated. Add the sausage and sauce and mushrooms and mix again. Add the mozzarella and toss gently. Pour everything into the baking dish and sprinkle the remaining romano on top. Bake uncovered until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve right away.