Baked Fusilli with Sausage (Fusilli dan Sosej Bakar)

Hello Cooks!  How was your weekend?  I hope you had a good one.  Otherwise, cook something nice and eat! Hehe...that always helps!  As for me, I made Baked Fusilli with Sausage last Sunday. Every once in a while, I do try to go Western when I really want some change in the menu. I really dare not venture too far however because I was afraid my mother-in-law would not be able to enjoy the food if she is not used to the taste. Pasta would be somewhat safe and acceptable. She had it a few times and she has ever cooked Spaghetti Bolognese.

It is just that I am starting to feel that my kitchen-ing life is getting a bit too dull with familiarity.  I really want to be able to do more. I want my cooking sessions to be filled with versatility. I just hope that my mother-in-law who loves Indian and Malay food, would not mind the variation every now and then. As some of us might already know, the oldies can be very fixed in their opinion (taste buds included at times). I am just worried that she might not be able to take it if I were to serve something too Western or Chinese on the dining table. Oh well, I am just going to have to hope for the best. Right now, I am on the scout for some new dishes to spice up my culinary adventure. This reminds me of a piece of advice from Julia Child, “Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” Oh yes! I like fun!

Meanwhile, I am just settling with something that my mother-in-law is somewhat already familiar with. Pasta! This is basically a very simple and easy recipe but very gooooooood. My husband loves this dish and this time he re-filled his plate twice. My mother-in-law had a second helping. It must have been a really long time since I cooked baked pasta. Sayf actually emptied his plate and Sayf has never finished his food before.

Ingredients:

I used a 13x9 baking dish to bake this pasta which could serve about 6-8 people at one time.  On top of that I had to set aside some of the pasta for dinner time baking as I could not fit everything into the baking dish.  So if you are cooking in a lesser portion, you will have to reduce the ingredients accordingly.

500 grams Fusilli - cooked in boiling water added with a teaspoon of salt for about 6-8 minutes or until al-dente and cooled under running water then set aside (different brands of pasta have differing cooking time so do check your packaging on the cooking instructions)
2 jars of traditional pasta sauce
1 large onion - diced
3 garlics - chopped
2 packs of 10 sausages
1-2 packets of Mozarella Cheese slices (this was not available then at the local supermarket I frequent so I settled with a pack of shredded Mozarella instead)
salt to taste
1 teaspoon of sugar (or Ajinamoto, if you prefer)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius and slice the sausages on the bias.

2.  Heat up oil in pan and add the sausages.

3.  Fry them till slightly browned on the sides.  Drain on paper towel and set aside.

4.  Pour away excess oil and leave just enough for sauteing.  Heat up the oil and add in the chopped garlics.  Saute for a few seconds.

5.  Add in the diced large onion.  Saute until the onions are withered or soft.

6.  Add in the pasta sauce. 

7.  Add in the teaspoon of sugar (or Ajinamoto, if you prefer).  Stir and bring to boil. 

8.  Once boiled, add in your fried sausage slices.  Give a stir.  Do a taste check and add salt to taste.

9.  Add in the fusilli.

10.  Give a thorough stir to coat the fusilli with pasta sauce.  Off fire.

11.  Assemble and fill up the pasta in an oven-proof baking dish (I used a 13 x 9).

12.  Level them up in the baking dish with the back of your ladle.

13.  This would be the time when I would arrange the mozarella cheese slices on the top to cover the pasta entirely.  In this instance however, I had used the shredded mozarella cheese since the mozarella slices were not available.

14.  Bake them in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese have melted.

15.  Serve portions on plate, sprinkle with some chilli flakes if you like and enjoy!

Happy Kitchen-ing!!