Preheat your oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
In a medium bowl, add the cheese layer ingredients and stir them together until you’ve got a nice, smooth mixture. Set aside.
Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pasta and cook it 2 minutes less than package directions suggest. Once it’s done, drain it and add it back to the same pot it was cooked in.
Meanwhile, add the sausage meat to a skillet, along with the onion. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as you go along, for about 10 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
To the skillet, stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about a minute. Spoon out excess fat from the pan.
Add the skillet mixture to the pot that has the pasta in it, and then pour in the marinara sauce. Toss until everything is coated (this is easiest to do with tongs or two large spoons).
Add half the pasta/sauce mixture to a 9×13 baking dish, then spread it in an even layer.
Spread the cheese layer evenly over the pasta/sauce layer. This step can get a little messy. It doesn’t have to be done perfectly.
Add the remaining pasta/sauce mixture and spread it out evenly, then top the casserole with the mozzarella cheese.
Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and broil for a few minutes (watch it carefully) until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
Let the casserole sit for 5-10 minutes, then use a spatula to cut it into individual portions. Season with salt & pepper if needed. Note: Especially when it’s still hot, you won’t get nice, even squares with a perfectly even cheese layer. It’ll mix together a bit, but I went for plenty of sauce (especially so leftovers aren’t dry).
NOTES
Use either ground sausage meat or buy sausages and take the meat out of the casings.
If you need to soften up the cream cheese in a hurry, pop it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Feel free to change up the cheese layer a bit… you don’t need to stick to the cheeses I suggest.
See process photos within blog post for extra clarity.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
NUTRITION
Calories: 742kcal
Carbohydrates: 58g
Protein: 33g
Fat: 42g
Saturated Fat: 20g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g
Monounsaturated Fat: 15g
Cholesterol: 119mg
Sodium: 1799mg
Potassium: 949mg
Fiber: 5g
Sugar: 10g
Vitamin A: 1639IU
Vitamin C: 15mg
Calcium: 393mg
Iron: 4mg
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