What’s more comforting than baked pasta? This five ingredient baked rigatoni dish is chewy and cheesy with fresh herbs brightening up every bite.
Amidst the stuffing and gravy and casserole recipes this week, I bring you PASTA.
And nottttt just any pasta. BAKED pasta. Your cheesy dream come true!
I love all pastas but there’s something extra special about the golden brown crust that’s created in the oven. Mozzarella melts like no other cheese and works perfectly to create that crispy, gooey crust we’re looking for!
This recipe is simple but will taste out of this world delicious if you use good quality ingredients! I used ground sausage, marinara, rigatoni and mozzarella all from a local Italian market called Jimmy’s. You can tell when the individual ingredients are higher caliber — the entire dish becomes more elevated.
To make this 5 Ingredient Baked Rigatoni you’ll need:
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
- 1 jar of your favorite small batch marinara sauce
- 1 lb. dried rigatoni pasta
- Fresh mozzarella
- Fresh herbs
Specifically I used Hot Italian Pork Sausage, Jimmy’s Food Store Homemade Marinara Sauce, imported rigatoni pasta, local fresh mozzarella, parsley and basil!
Substitutions
This recipe is completely customizable based on your preferences or what’s in your kitchen!
- Ground Sausage: all you need is ground meat for this recipe! You can use ground turkey, ground chicken, ground beef, ground chicken sausage or ground pork sausage. Seriously whatever sounds best!
- Marinara: Any variety of marinara sauce under the sun will work – just look for a higher quality jar.
- Rigatoni: I love the bite of the short, ribbed tubes but feel free to swap for penne, bow ties or any noodle instead.
- Fresh Mozzarella: I sorta kinda think this is a non-negotiable because of the melty factor but if I’m not going to judge if you use a shredded version in your fridge drawer instead. Just know you won’t get the same kind of stretchhhhh you would with fresh!
- Fresh Herbs: Basil is a standard in Italian cooking and is super fragrant, whereas parsley just adds a pop of color and freshness. Fresh oregano or thyme would work well here too!
Here’s how you’ll make this 5 Ingredient Baked Rigatoni:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook pasta in boiling, salted water.
- In the meantime, brown sausage in a deep pot.
- Add marinara to sausage, then add in pasta.
- Pour in tossed noodles into a glass dish coated with cooking spray.
- Top with mozzarella slices and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Top with fresh herbs and serve!
I hope you love this hearty easy to make dish! It would make for a perfect non-turkey meal this weekend 🙂 grateful for you!
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5 Ingredient Baked Rigatoni
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage "bulk" and uncooked
- 1 jar good marinara sauce look for something local or small batch
- 1 lb. good quality dried rigatoni pasta
- 1 8 oz. ball fresh mozzarella cut into thin slices
- chopped fresh herbs like basil, parsley, thyme or oregano
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt and pepper each
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a non-stick deep sided pan over medium heat. When warm, add uncooked sausage and break up with wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink, about 6-7 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- In the non-stick pan, stir in jar of marinara with a tsp. each of salt and pepper. Turn heat to low and let simmer while you cook pasta.
- Add 1 tbsp. salt to boiling water, then add in dried pasta. Cook according to "al dente" package directions, then add into meat sauce. Stir in to coat.
- In a 9×13 glass dish, coat sides and bottom with cooking spray. Pour in the pasta then top with slices of mozzarella cheese. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese has melted and is golden brown.
- When pasta has baked, remove from oven and let cool slightly. Top with fresh herbs then enjoy!