We believe that summer dinners should be both quick and easy, so this skillet pasta dinner requires just a handful of ingredients—bowtie pasta, marinara sauce, chicken sausage, zucchini, bell pepper, spinach—and is SO EASY to make.
Ingreadient
- Kosher salt
- 8 oz. farfalle
- 1 (24-oz.) jar marinara sauce
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 3/4 lb. cooked chicken sausage (any flavor)
- 2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb.), sliced into 1/4"-thick rounds
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (5-oz.) package baby spinach (about 5 packed c.)
- 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves, torn, plus more for serving
- 3 c. shredded mozzarella (about 12 oz.), divided
Direction
- Preheat oven to 375º. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than package instructions. Drain pasta and return to pot. Toss with marinara and set aside.
- In a large, high-sided, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add sausage and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer sausage to pot with pasta.
- In same skillet over medium-high heat, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Cook zucchini, bell pepper, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add garlic to skillet, and cook, stirring, until fragrant and golden, about 1 minute. Add spinach and cook, tossing, until wilted, about 2 minutes more. Scrape vegetable mixture into pot with pasta, add basil, and toss to combine; reserve skillet.
- Spoon half of pasta mixture into reserved skillet. Top with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella. Scrape remaining pasta mixture over and top with remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella.
- Bake until cheese is melted and top is golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Top with more basil before serving.
