Baked Rigatoni Recipe

This cheesy baked rigatoni recipe is layered with rigatoni, ricotta cheese, ground sweet Italian sausage and beef, and finished with fresh mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese. It’s dense, incredibly delicious, cheesy, and really easy to pull together with only 7 basic ingredients in under an hour!

Baked rigatoni is assembled just like my skillet lasagna recipe. Layers of meat and ricotta are separated by a layer of saucy rigatoni. I actually got the recipe inspiration from Michael Strahan’s Instagram—the guy was really on to something. If you really want to take this recipe to the next level, make it with Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you should also try my no-boil baked ziti!

Ingredients

• Rigatoni or ziti: any tubular pasta will do
• Ground sweet Italian sausage: you can also use spicy sausage for a spicy kick
• 85% lean ground beef
• Marinara or tomato sauce: I make my own and use Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce. It’s easy to make and delicious.
• Ricotta cheese: transferred to a bowl and stirred to soften
• Fresh mozzarella cheese
• Shredded parmesan cheese: I always opt for a block and grate myself. It’s much fresher this way.
• Fresh basil leaves
• Salt and pepper

How to Make Baked Rigatoni

All of the parts in this recipe are divided into two uniform layers of pasta and marinara, meat, and ricotta cheese.

Step 1.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Step 2.

Bring a large pot of water with a big pinch of salt to a boil. Cook pasta al dente, strain, and transfer to a bowl or back into the boiling pot once it’s cooled. Stir in 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce. Mix and set aside.

Step 3.

Meanwhile, bring oil in a large pan or skillet to medium heat. Cook sausage and beef until browned and fully cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Use the tip of your spatula to break the sausage and beef into small chunks. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and set aside.

Step 4.

Take half of the pasta and layer filling the entire bottom of a 13X9 casserole or baking dish. Layer with half of the beef and sausage mix, and then half of the ricotta cheese. Spread the ricotta with a rubber spatula, doing your best to spread it thinly and evenly. It will tend to stick. It’s best to work in small dollops and spread as best you can. It does not need to be perfect!

Step 5.

Repeat step 4 with the remaining ingredients. Pasta, sausage/beef, and ricotta.

Step 6.

Layer top with 1 cup of marinara. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes uncovered.

Step 7.

Remove from the oven, top with a layer of 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and all the fresh mozzarella. Bake for 20-25 additional minutes or until cheese is fully melted and starting to turn golden. Sometimes a 2-minute broil at the very end will help deliver a perfect golden singe.

Step 8.

Let cool for 10 minutes, top with basil, and serve cut in squares.

More Pasta Recipes

• No-boil baked ziti with sausage and ricotta
• Chicken broccoli ziti
• Skillet lasagna
• Cheesy baked gnocchi
• Rigatoni bolognese

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