Cheesy Italian Sausage Pasta
This delicious cheesy Italian sausage pasta is loaded with flavor and it has two favorite classic sauces - a meat sauce and an Alfredo sauce. It's easy to make and a family favorite.
Servings: 8 Servings
Ingredients
- 16 ounce bow tie pasta
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound Italian sausage links, cut into ½ slices
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon slap ya mama seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- (2) 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 12 ounce tomato paste
- 1½ teaspoon oregano
- 1½ teaspoon basil
Alfredo Sauce
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 16 ounce heavy whipping cream
- 10 ounce shredded Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup pasta water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cook pasta per package directions for al dente. Retain 1 cup of pasta water. Set aside.
For the Meat Sauce
- In a large skillet or frying pan, over medium high heat, cook ground beef, Italian sausage slices, and onions until meat is no longer pink and onions are tender. Drain and return to the pan.
- Sprinkle with seasonings, stir.
- Pour tomato sauce and tomato paste into the meat mixture. Stir to combine, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For the Alfredo Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and then stir in flour.
- Pour heavy whipping cream into the pan and stir until combined.
- Add Parmesan cheese, stir until melted and add salt and pepper.
- Add pasta water to cheese sauce and stir.
- Once the sauce has thickened, add the cooked pasta to the alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.
- Pour the pasta into the prepared baking dish followed by the meat mixture on top of the pasta.
- Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Serve with a side salad and garlic bread.
Notes
- Be sure you cook your pasta to al dente and no further. You'll be baking this dish after adding the pasta. Overcooking the pasta initially will make it mushy by the time the recipe is finished cooking.
- Stop cooking your meat mixture as soon as it's no longer pink. Overcooked ground meat and sausage become tough and rubbery.
- Be very gentle when spooning the meat sauce over the alfredo sauce and smoothing it out. You're going to a nicely delineated separation between the two.