Description
This Rigatoni and Sausage Bake is Italian Comfort Food in a Casserole dish. It's cheesy, saucy, and will have you craving this recipe on repeat. Plus, it's super easy to make with minimal ingredients needed!
Ingredients
Scale
- 16 ounce sweet or mild ground Italian Sausage
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced fine
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 lb rigatoni dry pasta
- 24 ounce jarred marinara pasta sauce (store bought)
- 15 ounce whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 8 ounce block mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: 1 teaspoon fresh parsley or basil for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stovetop for the pasta. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, add in the Italian sausage and cook for about 4 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks. Toss the onion into the skillet and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes until softened and the sausage is no longer pink. Add in garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat to the stovetop and set aside.
- Add the pasta into the boiling water and boil until al dente (firm when bitten into) according to package instructions. Strain the pasta, return to pot and stir in about 3/4 of the jarred pasta sauce. Save the remaining pasta sauce for topping at the end.
- In a large bowl, combine 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, egg and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Pour the pasta with sauce a 9x13 casserole dish. Next, pour the ricotta cheese sauce over the pasta with marinara sauce. Stir to coat the pasta in cheese. Layer sausage mixture over the top of the pasta. Top with additional marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove foil and broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese a bit. Top with a teaspoon of minced fresh parsley if desired.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, then slice into squares, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Shred the cheese from a block for the best melt.
- Save a bit of the pasta sauce for topping the dish, and you can warm up additional pasta sauce on the side if you want extra.
- Cooking the pasta al dente (firm when bitten into) is best because it will cook more in the oven.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking, stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian