Slow Cooker Sausage & Eggplant Baked Ziti
Here’s a baked ziti with oomph! Packed full of delicious eggplant, fire roasted peppers and robust sausage, this slow cooker meal will have them coming back for seconds!
Servings: 6
Calories: 397kcal
Ingredients
- 8 oz bulk Italian sausage I used a combo of hot and sweet
- 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (don't drain)
- 1 head of fennel also known as anise
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 oz uncooked ziti or penne
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Brown sausage meat; drain and place in the crock of a 5-7 quart slow cooker
- Peel eggplant and cut into cubes about 1-inch big; add to crock.
- Cut stems off fennel, core and slice thinly, add to crock.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, fire roasted tomatoes, water, wine, Italian seasoning, sugar and salt to the crock. Stir well to combine.
- Cover and cook on high 3-3 1/2 hours, low 6-7 hours
- Add the uncooked ziti--if you cooked on low, turn it up to high to cook the pasta--stirring so the pasta is submerged in the sausage/eggplant mixture.
- Cook for 30 minutes on high
- Stir and sprinkle with the shredded cheese; cover and cook 10 minutes.
- Uncover and let the baked ziti stand on warm setting for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 1012mg | Potassium: 578mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 614IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 209mg | Iron: 2mg