Baked Rigatoni With Sausage
Baked Rigatoni With Sausage is a family friendly pasta bake. Using simple ingredients we bring together this deliciously easy dinner recipe.
Servings: 6
Calories: 559kcal
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion diced
- 6 thick italian sausages Note 1
- 1 tablespoon garlic Note 2
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 700 grams/24 oz passata Note 3
- 400 grams/16 oz crushed tomatoes Note 4
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 beef stock cubes Note 5
- 2 teaspoons dried italian herbs
- 500 grams/16 oz rigatoni Note 6
Cheese layer
- 1 cup colby cheese grated
- 1 cup ricotta cheese Note 7
To serve
- basil leaves
- black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Onion: use a knife and cutting board to peel and dice the onion.
- Sausages: use a smaller knife to remove the casing (skin) off each sausage and then chop the sausages into chunky pieces.
- Cook: place a large sauté pan onto the stove top, turn the heat to high and add the olive oil. Next add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add in the chopped sausage pieces as well as the diced onion. Cook till the sausage is browned (6-8 minutes).
- Sauce: turn the heat on the sausages down (simmer/low) and then pour in the passata, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock cubes (crushed over the top with fingers) and Italian herbs and once done stir gently to combine.
- Pasta: cook the rigatoni according to package instructions in a large sauce pan of boiling salted water. Drain once cooked and discard pasta water.
- Baking dish: whilst the pasta is cooking grease a large baking dish (20 cm x 30 cm, 8 inch by 12 inch) with olive oil using a basting brush to coat the base and sides.
- Combine: add the cooked pasta to the sauce and sausage mixture. Gently to combine.
- Transfer: transfer the combined pasta and sausage mixture into the greased baking dish.
- Cheese: sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top to form a layer then dollop the ricotta over the shredded cheese.
- Oven bake: place the baking dish into the preheated oven on the middle shelf. Let the dish bake and cheese melt for 15 to 20 minutes. Once done use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven and place it onto a heatproof surface.
- To serve: season with cracked black pepper and garnish with basil leaves, portion and serve hot.
Video
Notes
- Note 1: Sausages: I like to use thick Italian sausages. These are pork sausages (often with fennel) that have a few more ingredients than regular pork sausages which are slightly thinner. They are sometimes labelled 'Italian sausages' but might also simply be called 'pork sausages' so keep your eye out. For alternatives you can use beef, pork, lamb or chicken sausages if you prefer.
- Note 2 - Garlic: 2-3 fresh garlic cloves finely chopped, minced garlic from a jar or chunky chopped jarred garlic (my favourite for convenience).
- Note 3 - Passata: also known as tomato puree. This is thick but very consistently textured.
- Note 4 - Crushed tomatoes: or diced for more texture.
- Note 5 - Beef stock cubes: use your fingers/palms to crush these over the top as you are making the sauce and then stir the sprinkles in.
- Note 6 - Rigatoni: or you can use ziti, penne or fusilli to give you further options.
- Note 7 - Ricotta: amount can be reduced or cheese omitted to reduce calorie intake.
- Serving size: 4-6 adults depending on portion size. Portion sizes can be reduced and paired with a side salad and or bread.
Nutrition
Calories: 559kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 931mg | Potassium: 1115mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1240IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 325mg | Iron: 5mg