Cheesy Sausage Penne

I have been on this cookbook buying spree. Despite having oodles of recipes saved to my google reader, I keep finding magazines with good looking food. The latest one I picked up was Taste of Home's Casseroles, Slow cookers and soups. Initially paging through, I came across at least five different recipes I wanted to try. The first one I made was this little delight. I was a little hesitant at first because you don't mix in the cream cheese/sour cream combination. However, after you dish up and stir it around a little, yum! Now, I thought this was pretty tasty and when one of my best friend J (shown below)was over, I decided to pawn some off on her, so we had it for supper. She was shocked by how good it was and more impressed by how easy it was! I'm winning them over one at a time....

Cheese Sausage Penne

Source: Taste of Home's Casseroles, Slow Cookers and Soups

Ingredients

1 lb bulk Italian sausage

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jar (26 ounces) spaghetti sauce

1 package (16 ounces) uncooked penne pasta

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

4 green onions, sliced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*I used fat free cream cheese and sour cream and it tasted great!

Directions

1) In a large skillet, cook the sausage and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat' cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2) cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and onions.

3) In a greased shallow 3-qt baking dish, layer half of the pasta and sausage mixture. Dollop with half of the cream cheese mixture; sprinkle with half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers.

4) Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Miss J and I; one of the greatest friends a girl could have ;)