dairy-free baked pasta

Every once in a while, I get a hunger that only baked pasta can satisfy. I wanted to make something really flavorful and hearty, obviously without dairy. This dish was delicious! I did add a four-cheese blend on top for Todd and me before baking. Sam liked his right off the stove! If I were eating the dairy-free, I think I would have blended bread crumbs with melted butter and salt and pepper to sprinkle on the top before baking.

Ingredients:

Box of rigatoni – rice pasta if you wish

1 1/2 sausages in casings

olive oil

colored peppers (I used half of a red and half of an orange), large dices

one onion, cut into small dices

1/2 c PLAIN (not vanilla) coconut milk

crushed red pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano

3-4 cloves of garlic

jar spaghetti sauce

1/3 c plain tomato sauce

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to box directions. In non-stick skillet heat 1 T olive oil. Add peppers and onions. Cook for a minute or two. Remove sausage from casings and add to pan, using wooden spoon to form crumbles as you cook. When the sausage is almost done, add the garlic, minced, and salt, pepper, dried basil and dried oregano. I was very generous in the amounts…it had a lot of spice! Let the spices cook for one minute. Then stir in the jarred sauce and tomato sauce, when that is heated through, stir in the coconut milk. Pour this into a baking dish. Add bread crumbs if you wish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It was so rich and delicious!