Baked Ziti With Hot Italian Sausage & Fresh Mozzarella
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This is a modified version of a recipe given to me by Momma Maglione. Her recipe does not include the sausage and uses her secret family gravy recipe which I cannot post. ;)
05When sausage is done, remove from pan and add 1/2 cup wine to reserved drippings from sausage and bring to a simmer scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan and stirring with wine. While wine is simmering, slice sausage at a slight diagonal about 1/2" thick.
06Add pureed sauce and sliced sausage to wine and stir. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
07Meanwhile thinly slice and chop the fresh mozarella balls (some people recommend freezing for a 5 minutes or so to help with slicing, but I never do).
08When sauce is done simmering, pour everything over pasta. Sprinkle 1 cup of the fresh mozzarella throughout (fresh makes all the difference!) and sprinkle the rest on top. Top with a few shakes of crushed red pepper.
09Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until you see it getting a little bubbly. You can even cook it longer it you want it to get a little crisp on top, not too crisp as it will get dry.
10Serve with a bottle of wine and some nice Italian music.