Tight on time but craving a hearty and delicious pasta night? This 4-ingredient fix will take that store-bought pasta sauce to the next level and let you enjoy a delicious Italian dinner in no time!
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“Who needs Bar La Grassa…” Those were my husband’s exact words after tasting this dinner. #Winning. Now to be honest, this is NOT AT ALL a made from scratch recipe so we’re really comparing apples to oranges. Out of principal you’ve got to vote for the made from scratch Italian dishes every time, right? Right. Sometimes you just don’t want to spend that kind of money though or are too lazy to make homemade pasta yourself or make the trip across town for top notch pasta. For those days when you are craving a yummy, hearty, pasta dish but want to put in just about zero time and effort, this is your dish.
I’m all about that semi-homemade life. Small tweaks to kick up store bought staples. Prego Italian Sauce is a staple in my pantry, but you will never find me just dumping that stuff on boiled noodles and calling it a day. It’s always working in tandem with other ingredients to make something even better like in this low carb lasagna, these stuffed meatballs, my easy stuffed cabbage rolls or this ultimate lasagna recipe (like I said, Prego is a must have item in my pantry!). While I love all of the previously mentioned recipes, this is my new favorite. It’s got the perfect amount of heat and the most delicious consistency with seriously so little effort. It’s definitely going to be a regular dish on my meal plans and I’m pretty confident you’ll feel the same way!
Ingredients
1 lb Jimmy Dean hot sausage
1 large or 2 smaller zucchinis - spiralized
1 - 24oz jar of Prego Three Cheese Italian Sauce (you may only need to use about 3/4 of the jar).
12 oz. GF spaghetti noodles (I use Simply Balanced) - cooked al denté according to package directions .
Directions
In a nonstick skillet, cook the sausage over medium high heat. Once sausage is cooked through, blot out most of the excess grease with a paper towel. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini starts to soften (about 2 or 3 minutes). Stir in pasta sauce*, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir in al dente spaghetti noodles- mix well to combine. Cover and cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until noodles are cooked to your liking, stirring occasionally.
*I used about 3/4 of the jar of pasta sauce the first time I made this with 1 decent sized zucchini. If I use two zucchinis I’ll likely use the entire jar. Add sauce as needed according to your taste.