super-comfort food In a silky sauce with cheese and veggies. This soup and fresh sourdough bread are frequent weekend requests from my husband who prefers steak and potatoes.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni pasta
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 (16 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 1 (6 ounce) jar pesto, or more to taste
- 1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, for about 9 minutes (pasta will not be fully cooked.) Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, place sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and leave grease in the pan.
- Add oil to the skillet and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minutes. Add kale, nutmeg, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Deglaze the pan with white wine and cook until kale is soft, 5 to 10 more minutes.
- Return sausage back to the pan. Add ricotta, pesto, and 6 ounces mozzarella cheese. Add reserved pasta and cooking water. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Pour into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle remaining mozzarella over top. Cover with foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
- You can use sweet or hot Italian sausage.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 521 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 45 g |
| Cholesterol | 52 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 736 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I am giving 4 stars because my husband really liked this and ate two heaping bowls. I personally think it needed a little more seasoning or flavor (3 stars). I followed it exactly except I didn’t have fresh nutmeg. And since the recipe doesn’t say what to do with the onions, added them to the pork while browning. To me it needed…..something. Perhaps more nutmeg and red pepper flakes? Maybe fresh basil? Half Italian- half spicy pork? Not exactly sure and not sure if I will make again. Glad I tried something new!
I made this today and found it very tasty. My only complaint is with whomever wrote the recipe and wonder who’s proofreading it. There is no mention of the onion in the cooking instructions.