Recipe: Rapini and Sausage Baked Pasta

Choose a chunky pasta that won’t turn into mush while baking from frozen — rigatoni or ‘scoobi doo’ (corkscrew) pasta are great options. This is a good opportunity to use whole wheat pasta, as the extra fibre will hold up well in the freezer, and provide a good nutrition boost.

Stock up on small (approximately 2 L) dollar store foil pans with lids. Dividing this recipe into 2 or 3 smaller pans will prevent having leftovers go bad in the fridge, and allows you to heat only what you need, when you need it.

Note: Some babies can be sensitive to spicy foods or garlic that is passed through breastmilk. Both are easily left out of this recipe if you have any concerns.

Ingredients

Béchamel Sauce:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, if desired, minced
• ½ tsp chili flakes, if desired
• 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pasta bake:

• 1 pound chunky, whole wheat pasta (see note above)
• 1 pound fresh Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 bunch rapini, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 jar (370 mL) roasted red peppers, sliced
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided

Preparation

First, make the béchamel. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic and chili flake, if using. Cook for 1 minute, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk together. Continue cooking over medium heat until the flour is absorbed into butter and the mixture is a light golden yellow, 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking. Cook sauce until thickened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set sauce aside to cool.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta 3 minutes less than the package instructions so pasta is al dente. The pasta will finish cooking in the oven. When the time is up, drain the pot into a colander and rinse with cold water until cooled. Leave the pasta in colander in sink to drain off as much water as possible.

While the pasta is cooling, brown the sausage meat in a skillet until cooked thoroughly. Drain off excess fat and set sausage aside to cool.

Next, combine the ingredients but only after they have cooled; if the sauce is still hot, the cooked pasta will absorb it and the dish will dry out. In a large bowl, add the cooled sausage, pasta, chopped rapini, drained roasted red pepper, and combine. Pour the  cooled sauce over all,  add half of the grated cheese and mix thoroughly. Divide between 2-3 foil cooking pans, and sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over each. Cover and freeze.

When ready to eat, preheat oven to 400F degrees. Bake pasta with lid on for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the container. Broil for the last 5 minutes to get the top golden and crispy. Serve with a green salad.