I was at the store, stumped on what to make for dinners this week. I feel like I’ve tried a ton of different things from Pinterest, and my family is somewhat bored of the same things on repeat. Luckily, I found a ‘yummy – sounding’ eggplant spread at Trader Joe’s and thought “hmmmm, this might actually do well as a sauce.” Glad I tried it out, because it was a delicious dinner hit in this house. Here’s the recipe for eggplant rigatoni pasta bake.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. box rigatoni pasta, cooked al dente and drained
1 12 oz. jar Trader Joe’s eggplant garlic spread (pictured below)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup lowfat or fat free ricotta cheese
1 package beef or turkey kielbasa, sliced
2 tbs. Italian seasoning
1 tbs. salt
Olive oil

Directions:

Place sliced kielbasa in a lightly  oiled pan on medium heat. Sprinkle in Italian seasoning and salt. Cook until lightly browned. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a lightly oiled baking dish, mix together the cooked pasta, entire jar of eggplant garlic spread, ricotta cheese, kielbasa, and 1/2 of the mozzarella.  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling.

I hope you enjoy!