Italian Sausage Mostaccioli at Home

Italian sausage mostaccioli is one of my most regular baked pasta dishes.

To me personally, it’s right up there with lasagna. It’s fireside, comfort food and universally loved in my house. It’s savory simply freshly baked and right out of the oven- cheese strings and all. Yet somehow, it gets better overnight in the fridge and when rewarmed the next day. And it simply so happens to be simple to throw together.

My old-school recipe is flavor-packed as is, but that doesn’t mean I don’t switch things up for fun and for flavor every now and again.

What makes this Italian sausage mostaccioli recipe, is that I decided to swap in some Italian sausage to bump up the flavor and to put a fun new twist on the original.

For this Italian Sausage Mostaccioli Gather:

• lean ground beef
• bulk (not links) Italian sausage
• yellow onion (about 1/2 an onion, if large)
• garlic
• tomato sauce
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• italian seasoning
• kosher salt
• red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• sugar
• mostaccioli noodles
• 2 cups freshly shredded mozzarella

Preheat your oven to 325℉ (or 160℃).

One of the many reasons why Worth keeping this method, is that it’s fast and minimal prep. You could even pull it all together and refrigerate over night and bake the next day. This could even be frozen and baked later.

Start by adding in 1 pound of both ground beef chuck and Italian sausage with 1 cup diced yellow onions and 4 cloves minced garlic and cook until the meat has browned and the onions are tender.

Add in the rest of the ingredients; 2 (14 ounce) cans tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (entirely optional), 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon sugar.

Stir together until combined. If you’re looking for a satisfying meat sauce, you could stop here (let it simmer for a few) and then pour it over pasta and be done.

BUT this is a baked pasta dish so while the sauce is simmering for about 15 minutes, I bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook 8 ounces mostaccioli noodles (aka penne lisce) for 1/2 of the recommended time on the package, and then drain.

Immediately after draining, add them to the pan of sauce and carefully toss together.

Add half of the noodles and meat sauce into a 9×13 baking dish and top with 1 cup mozzarella. And then the rest of the noodles and meat sauce before sprinkling with 2 more tablespoons of Parmesan and then the remaining 1 cup grated mozzarella.

Slide this savory masterpiece in to your preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling.

Usually I let the mostaccioli cool down a bit before I serve it up into large pasta bowls and then sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. You can also serve this with a garden salad and garlic bread, and for me, a glass of wine.

If you love Italian Sausage Mostaccioli then try…

Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Baked Shells in Champagne Cream Sauce

Baked Penne with Italian Sausage and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Enjoy! And if you give this Italian Sausage Mostaccioli recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!