I came up with a great recipe for baked rigatoni that is both sweet and spicy and I thought I’d share it.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound hot Italian sausage links
- 1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni pasta
- 1 (24 ounce) jar marinara sauce
- 1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup grated Asiago cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until almost tender, about 10 minutes.
- Fry the sausages in a large skillet over medium heat, turning frequently until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove from the skillet, cool slightly and slice into rounds. Add the garlic, fennel and onion to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, then add the roasted red peppers, basil, sliced sausage and pasta sauce. Heat through over low heat until warmed.
- Combine the pasta with the sauce and vegetables in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spread the mozzarella, Parmesan and Asiago cheeses over the top. Garnish with a few fennel leaves left from the bulb. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, then remove the aluminum foil. Set the oven to broil, and cook for another 5 minutes or until cheese is browned.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 500 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g |
| Cholesterol | 52 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 1021 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 19 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This dish is just too rich for us…very heavy.
Delicious.
I only had the rigatoni, some jalapeno cheddar sausage, a jar of marinara, a block of parmesano reggiano, and the onion and garlic on hand. Still made a fantastic pasta casserole following this recipe. I might try it with the fennel and other ingredients some time, but this dish is great as is.
great
Very easy and delicious. Made it for Sunday night Italian dinner and it was a family hit!
didn’t have any fennel, but the flavor was still good. would make again.
This is a pretty basic pasta bake. I enjoyed the addition of fennel. I roasted a pepper but didn’t think it added that much depth of flavor.
Made without sausage, fennel, onion or pepper. Delicious easy base recipe for baked rigatoni!
It turned out delicious. However I omitted the fennel. I used a rosé sauce and spicy and mild Italian sausage. I mixed some Romano and asiago cheese in the pasta before I added the sauce. I’ll make this again, the family loved it.
Loved this recipe, and my wife asked me to make it again the same week. Thank you!
So delicious. My children loved using the funny looking fennel.
This was very tasty. I wish the fennel flavor came through a little more. Next time, I’ll make sure that I use every tiny bit of the fennel. I sliced the fennel as thin as I could and did cook it more than 5 mins, more like 10-15 mins.
This was very tasty. I wish the fennel flavor came through a little more. Next time, I’ll make sure that I use every tiny bit of the fennel. I sliced the fennel as thin as I could and did cook it more than 5 mins, more like 10-15 mins.
This is a great update on traditional rigatoni I grew up with in the northeast. Great bold flavors. A recipe everyone will LOVE!
This is really good! I used turkey instead of sausage. Only downfall is it’s not very healthy
I made this after receiving a bulb of fennel in a food co-op basket. It was excellent! Several others in the co-op made it after I posted my experience on Facebook and it was a hit all around. Most agreed that it needed more sauce, at least one additional cup. HIGHLY recommended.
Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe exactly except I used uncased sausage
Really delicious! Everyone, even my picky little ones, wanted more. Thanks for sharing!
This turned out so well and I even forgot to buy the fresh basil. I used a teaspoon of dried basil instead. I also used more than 1 jar of sauce because baked pasta tends to get dry. The fennel made this dish so flavorful. I sauteed it for 10 minutes before adding the onion & garlic. I used hot Italian turkey sausage and loved it! Will make this next time I have guests.
I made this along with the Super-Delicious Zuppa from this site, because I was already buying Italian sausage. I also used sweet Italian sausage and as someone suggested added a small container of ricotta to keep it moist. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
Fantastic results & very easy to prepare! Followed the recipe except for the fennel & I doubled the sauce.