Recipe Background
Just because the big day has not yet arrived doesn't mean you can't celebrate! Your taste buds are certainly eager to get started on the holiday indulgence, and what better way to begin than with this Christmas Eve Pasta? A homemade tomato sauce with all the sweetness, herbaceous flavor, and succulent bites of sausage you can imagine is just the beginning! The tender pasta and all of the smoky, sharp, nutty, melty cheeses? That's the heart and soul of the holiday feeling and Christmas Eve Pasta! This is how all happy holidays should begin!
Just because the big day has not yet arrived doesn't mean you can't celebrate! Your taste buds are certainly eager to get started on the holiday indulgence, and what better way to begin than with this Christmas Eve Pasta? A homemade tomato sauce with all the sweetness, herbaceous flavor, and succulent bites of sausage you can imagine is just the beginning! The tender pasta and all of the smoky, sharp, nutty, melty cheeses? That's the heart and soul of the holiday feeling and Christmas Eve Pasta! This is how all happy holidays should begin!
Ingredients
- 3 cups penne pasta
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium carrot chopped
- 1 celery rib chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated, divided
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley minced, divided
- 2 cups fontina or provolone cheese shredded
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, add the penne and cook it to al dente, according to the package directions.
- Drain the pasta and set it aside.
- Drain the canned tomatoes and reserve the juices.
- Coarsely chop the drained canned tomatoes and set them aside.
- In a 6-quart stockpot over medium-high heat, add the sausage, the onions, the carrots, the celery, and the garlic and cook, while crumbling the meat, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 6-8 minutes.
- Drain the excess fat from the stockpot.
- Add the tomato paste, the dried oregano, the salt, the basil, the red pepper flakes, the black pepper, the reserved chopped tomatoes, and the reserved tomato juices to the sausage mixture and stir to combine.
- Bring the sauce mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce mixture, uncovered, until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Add the beans, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup of the parsley to the sauce mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the pasta to the sauce mixture and stir to combine.
- Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle the top of the pasta mixture with the fontina cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
- Uncover the baking dish and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.
- Serve sprinkled with the remaining parsley.
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