Baked Penne with Sausage

Baked Penne with Sausage is a recipe that I’m now making with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta to keep it lower in carbs, and this is so tasty! This is an easy-to-make pasta casserole the whole family will like, and it only has 14 net carbs in a moderate-sized serving.

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Years and years ago I created this recipe for Baked Penne with Sausage, and when I taught school I must have taken it for my lunch at last 300 times! In those days I’d make it for Weekend Food Prep and eat it for lunch and dinner over and over until it was gone.

Back then I made it with a brand of pasta that claimed to be low in carbs, but after they were taken to court and it was discovered those claims were not quite accurate, I removed the recipe from my blog. But now (big drumroll here) I am making it again with the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) that’s high in fiber and much lower in carbs than regular pasta.

And in case it’s not obvious, I am quite obsessed with the Fiber Gourmet pastas! So far I have used this pasta in Zucchini Pesto Pasta and Pasta Salad with Sausage, Zucchini, Olives, and Peppers, and loved both those recipes. And even though I’ve made some delicious dishes with Palmini Pasta, zucchini noodles, and spaghetti squash, I love finding a product that’s fairly low in carbs AND tastes just like real pasta! I don’t think I realized how much I missed regular pasta until I found this product.

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link)
• salt (for pasta cooking water)
• hot (or mild) pork Italian Sausage
• Rao’s Pasta Sauce (affiliate link), I used Tomato Basil Sauce
• grated Mozzarella cheese
• grated Monterey Jack cheese
• coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

What ingredients help keep this baked penne casserole lower in carbs?

There are two ingredients and a few tricks I use in this recipe that help make it lower in carbs. First, I use Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) and make the 8 oz. box stretch to make eight servings. Second I use Rao’s Pasta Sauce (affiliate link) which is a lot lower in carbs than most purchased sauce, and I use one jar to make 8 servings, which reduces the carbs even more. And third, I use a lot of low-carb sausage and cheese in proportion to the amount of pasta and sauce.

How many carbs are in this baked pasta recipe?

When I calculate the carbs for this recipe made with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta it comes out to 26.5 carbs and 12.5 grams of fiber for a total of 14 net carbs. That’s pretty low in carbs for a casserole with pasta! 

How expensive is the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta?

The biggest drawback to the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for some people will be the price. I didn’t find a low price for it sold by the individual box when you add in the shipping costs. The best price I found was at Amazon where you can buy a package of 6 boxes and get it for $6.66 per box. (They used to have a 12 pack that lowered it to $3.99 per box, but I don’t see that any more.) The pasta is a bit less expensive on The Fiber Gourmet site, and in some parts of the country it’s sold in stores. For me it was such a treat to have “real” pasta without so many carbs that I bought big package, but if anyone finds it at a lower price for fewer boxes I’d love to know where you find it.

How to make Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta more affordable and reduce the carbs:

Even though the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta varieties are all much lower in carbs than other pastas made from wheat, I like to make the carbs even lower by using this pasta in recipes with lots of other low-carb ingredients. So for this recipe, an eight-ounce box of penne makes eight servings of this casserole. That makes the carb count much lower and makes the pasta much more affordable.

Can you make this recipe with regular penne pasta?

I’m sure you can make this recipe with regular penne pasta, although I haven’t tried it and I do wonder if the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne has more bulk when it cooks due to the amount of fiber. In the original recipe I used to use a brand of pasta that had 13.5 ounces in a package.

Can you use less cheese for this recipe?

The cheesy mix of Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan cheese combined with the pasta, sauce, and sauce is what makes this recipe so good (and keeps the carbs down). But if you prefer less cheese (or want to reduce the fat) go ahead and adjust it to your taste!

How to Make Baked Penne with Sausage:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. The first photo shows the Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce and the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne that I use to keep this relatively low in carbs!
2. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C.
3. Bring pot of salted water to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook 17-18 minutes, or until al dente. (The Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta takes much longer to cook because of the fiber.)
5. While pasta cooks, cook sausage over medium-high heat until well done. 
6. Then add Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce (or sauce of your choice), turn heat to medium, and let simmer about five minutes.
7. Drain pasta well when it’s done.
8. Spray a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish with non-stick spray.
9. Make a layer of pasta in the baking dish.
10. Then add sausage/sauce mixture.
11. Top with Mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from oven and stir slightly to get melted cheese mixed through the pasta mixture.
13. Top with Monterey Jack cheese and grated Parmesan and bake 15-20 minutes more.
14. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese to add at the table if you like.
15. This will freeze very well in an airtight container or bag. I like to freeze individual serving size portions to eat later for lunch.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

There’s nothing I love more than a crisp green salad or cooked greens with pasta and I’d love this Baked Penne with Sausage served with Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan, Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad, Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Kale and Arugula Salad, or Kalyn’s Favorite Baby Arugula Salad as a side dish.

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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Yield: 8 servings

Baked Penne with Sausage

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

This Baked Penne Pasta is made with lower-carb Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for a pasta dish that tastes just like "real" pasta with a lot fewer carbs.

Ingredients

• one 8 oz. package Fiber Gourmet Light Penne
• 1 tsp. salt (for pasta cooking water)
• 5 links hot (or sweet) pork Italian Sausage
• 24 oz. Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
3. Add Fiber Gourmet LIght Penne and cook 17-18 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. (The Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta takes much longer to cook because of the fiber. If you use another type of pasta, check the package for cooking time.)
4. While pasta cooks, squeeze sausage out of the casings and cook over medium-high heat in a large frying pan until well done. 
5. Then add Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce (or sauce of your choice), turn heat to medium, and let the sauce simmer with the sausage for about five minutes.
6. Drain pasta well as soon as it's done.
7. Spray a 9" X 13" glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray.
8. Make a layer of pasta in the cassserole dish.
9. Then make a layer of sausage/sauce mixture.
10. Top with the Mozzarella cheese.
11. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and stir gently to get the cheese mixed all through the pasta mixture.
12. Top with Monterey Jack cheese and grated Parmesan and bake about 15-20 minutes more, until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
13. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese to add at the table if you like.
14. This will freeze very well in an airtight container or bag. I like to freeze individual serving size portions to eat later for lunch.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 443Total Fat 28.4gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 93mgSodium 896mgCarbohydrates 26.5gFiber 12.5gSugar 3.5gProtein 32.5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you use the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne that I used (and have a moderate serving size) this Baked Penne with Sausage will be a good meal for any low-carb diet. I did eat this (with the previously mentioned pasta) the whole time I was following the South Beach Diet, but I doubt the Fiber Gourmet Pasta is approved for South Beach, and this recipe is definitely high in fat for South Beach too.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casseroles or Pasta to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

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