Spinach & Sausage Pasta Bake

Among other things, I like to cook and try new recipes. I recently discovered this Southern Living recipe and have altered it a little to my tastes. You can certainly lighten this one up by using turkey sausage, light/lf cream cheese and whole wheat pasta.

Ingredients

1 lb box of uncooked rigatoni

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1-1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage

1 (28-oz.) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, lightly drained

2 (8-oz.) containers chive-and-onion cream cheese

3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Prepare rigatoni according to package directions. Brown and crumble Italian sausage in large frying pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

2. After sausage cooks, spray pan with non-stick spray and sauté onions until translucent. Mix hot sausage with cream cheese while onions cook.

3. Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between layers of paper towels.

4. Add spinach and onions to sausage and cheese mixture. Mix in tomatoes.

5. Spoon mixture into baking dish, and sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake, covered, at 375° for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.