Baked Butternut Squash Pasta

This is a really different, but yummy, kind of sauce.  I grew up with basically two types of pasta sauces: marinara and alfredo.  But I'm definitely a sauce gal (seriously, I drench everything in sauce if it's available), and this butternut squash sauce is delish!  I've been able to find it at Costco for a great price, but it can be pretty spendy at your local grocery store...  However, since I don't end up using the entire bottle, I just pour what's left of it into a freezer bag and pull it out the next time I use it.  Voila!

Ingredients:

• ½ (25.5 oz) jar of butternut squash pasta sauce
• 2/3 c. cottage cheese*
• 1/3 c. parmesan cheese
• 1.5 c. water
• 2 t. chicken bouillon
• 1 T. brown sugar
• salt & pepper, to taste
• garlic herb seasoning, to taste
• basil, to taste
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 cans mushrooms, drained
• 1 can black olives, drained
• 2 handfuls spinach, chopped
• 16 oz pasta
• 20-25 meatballs -or- 4 chicken sausages, sliced (might consider using TVP or canned chicken/beef, or omitting altogether, to make this more food storage friendly...)

Directions:

     Combine pasta sauce with cottage cheese and parmesan in a casserole dish; stir well. Combine water with bouillon and spices and add to sauce and stir. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring halfway through.

*You might have noticed that the total amount of cheese in this recipe is 1 cup.  I happen to have cottage cheese on hand, so that's what I used.  I'm sure ricotta would be amazing, but mozzarella would probably work too.  Basically, use 1 cup of your choice of cheese (maybe even yogurt???) and cross your fingers!  But seriously, it's cheese!  How bad can it possibly be ;)  Enjoy! *B