Ranch Pesto Pasta With Chicken Sausage

I cook a lot of pasta.  I am Italian, it sort of goes with the territory.  The problem is, around this house, I like a simple fresh chopped tomato type sauce, one of the kids wants pesto and the husband just wants meat to be involved.  This pasta dish gives us the best of all worlds.  I've seen a recipe floating around Pinterest that is very similar to this from a lot of different authors but I have added my own twist.

CLICK HERE  for printable version.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box rigatoni pasta

½ C prepared ranch dressing

½ C prepared pesto (I use a garlic basil variety)

28 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained well

2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1 package chicken sausage links ( used sun dried tomato flavor)

1 T olive oil or butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.Cook rigatoni according to package instructions, but undercook by about 3 minutes (It will continue to cook in oven). Drain and return to pot.

2.While rigatoni is cooking: Slice sausage. Heat oil or butter in large sauté pan. Add sausage slices and cook, stirring often until browned. Set aside.

3.To drained rigatoni, stir in dressing, pesto, tomatoes and 1 C of the cheese. When combined well, add the sliced sausage and stir to distribute evenly.

4.Transfer pasta to baking dish (9x13 works well) and sprinkle with the remaining 1 C of cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.