Onion-Topped Sausage 'n' Mashed Potato Casserole

Ingredients

• 0.3 cup basil leaves fresh loosely packed chopped
• 1 cup fried onions french
• 1 teaspoon garlic-and-herb seasoning salt-free
• 19.5 oz ground turkey sausage sweet
• 8 oz five-cheese blend shredded italian
• 0.3 teaspoon penzey's southwest seasoning dried italian
• 24 oz potatoes refrigerated mashed garlic-flavored
• 1  shallots chopped
• 29 oz tomatoes in sauce diced canned

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• baking pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35
2. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 6 to 8 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.
3. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients, and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
4. Transfer sausage mixture to a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
5. Stir together mashed potatoes, cheese, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. (
6. Mixture will be dry.)
7. Spread potato mixture over sausage mixture in baking dish.
8. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbly. Top with fried onions, and bake 5 more minutes.
9. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
10. *1 (1 1/4-lb.) package ground chicken sausage may be substituted.
11. **1/2 tsp. dried basil may be substituted.
12. Note: For testing purposes only, we used Bob Evans Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend.