If you have followed me for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of Burrata cheese.  Don’t know what that is?  You can read my post, “Burrata: 101 – What Is This Cheese All About?” here.  I was SUPER excited to find some at my local Safeway earlier this week – I made this Cheesy Burrata Pasta Bake that night for dinner!

  If you are your local Safeway, look in the specialty cheese bin for the Burrata – it will look like this:

Once this dish was ready, I paired it with some sautéed squash and an arugula salad topped with shaved Parmesan and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and White Balsamic Vinegar from the Queen Creek Olive Mill – added a little salt and pepper, perfecto!

Cheesy Burrata Pasta Bake
Serves 4

2 links sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups of dry shell pasta
4 oz. Burrata cheese, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 – 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, remove sausage from casings and cook in a sauté pan over medium heat, crumbling as you go, until browned. Drain on a paper towel.

Add the bell peppers, garlic, and salt/pepper (to taste) to the sauté pan (add extra-virgin olive oil if pan is dry).  Sauté for 5-7 minutes.

Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water.  In a large bowl, combine the sausage, bell pepper mixture, pasta, sauce, and cheese – mix gently.  I used less sauce because my boys aren’t fans of too much sauce – add more if you’d like!  Grease the bottom and sides of a baking dish with butter and add the pasta mixture.  Top with bread crumbs.

Bake 10-15 minutes until heated all of the way through and the cheese has melted.  Serve with Parmesan to top.

Note:  You can prepare this ahead of time, but either put in oven while it pre-heats or allow for longer time in the oven.