Description
A comforting and easy-to-make lasagna casserole featuring rigatoni pasta combined with a flavorful Italian sausage tomato sauce, creamy ricotta mixture, and lots of melted mozzarella cheese baked to bubbly perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta
- 10 oz rigatoni
Sauce
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 24 oz pasta sauce
Ricotta Mixture
- 2 large eggs whisked
- 1 cup ricotta
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare dish: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside.
- Cook pasta: Cook the rigatoni in salted water according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Make the sauce: In a 4-quart saucepan, brown the Italian sausage over medium heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Once browned, add the diced onion, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and kosher salt. Cook until the onion softens, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the pasta sauce, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Prepare ricotta mixture: In a bowl, combine the whisked eggs, ricotta cheese, kosher salt, chopped parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix until fully combined.
- Combine pasta and sauce: Add the prepared meat sauce to the cooked rigatoni and stir to combine thoroughly. Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Add ricotta and cheese: Distribute the ricotta mixture evenly into 6 dollops over the pasta casserole. Gently stir some of the ricotta mixture into the pasta in the dish to create pockets of creamy cheese. Sprinkle the remaining 3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes until the pasta is bubbling and the cheese has melted thoroughly.
- Optional broil finishing: For a darker golden-brown cheese topping, switch the oven to broil and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes at the end of baking, watching closely to prevent burning.
Notes
- Use good quality cheese by freshly grating Parmesan and shredding mozzarella from a block for better flavor and texture.
- The ricotta mixture can be difficult to spread evenly; placing multiple dollops in different areas works best and creates delicious pockets of cheese.
- Broiling for a minute or two at the end enhances the cheese browning but must be watched carefully to avoid burning.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 700 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 25 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
