Step 1

PREPARE MEAT SAUCE: Brown the ground beef and italian sausage with the onion, garlic, and spices then saute with the tomato paste, deglaze with the wine, stir in the crushed tomatoes and bay leaf, simmer til reduced.COOK PASTA: Cook pasta in boiling salted water to just shy of al dente. Drain and spread pasta over lined baking sheet.PREPARE CHEESE FILLING: Stir the ricotta with the egg, pesto, salt and pepper then spoon into a piping bag or ziplock bag then snip the end/corner of the bag.ASSEMBLE PIE: Layer some sauce on bottom of pan, stand pasta in the sauce vertically, pipe pasta/rigatoni noodles halfway up with the filling. Sprinkle over some of the cheeses, top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese.BAKE: Cover with greased foil and transfer onto sheet pan, bake covered then uncovered until golden and bubbling.SERVE: Allow pasta to sit a few minutes then slice and serve or serve hot out the oven by spooning it straight out of the pan. It will be messy but oh so good

Step 2

Grease a 9-10 inch springform pan, or a 9 inch deep-dish pie pan. If using a springform pan, make sure and wrap the outside in foil to avoid leakage when prepping and baking it.In a separate saucepan or skillet, add the ground beef, sausage, onions, chili flakes if using and garlic. Brown the meat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, breaking into small pieces with a wooden spoon.Once the meat is cooked and the onions have softened, stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 min, add the wine to deglaze and cook for a minute or two until wine has reduced.Then add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer on medium or med- low while you cook the pasta and sauce has reduced and has thickened, approximately 15 min.In the meantime bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Cook noodles until a minute before al dente according to package directions. Drain and spread out on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to prevent them from sticking to each other.Preheat oven to 375°F.

Step 3

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, and pesto with salt and pepper.Put the ricotta mixture in the zip lock bag and cut a small hole in one corner. You could also use a piping bag.

Step 4

Assemble your pie by scooping approx 1 cup of the Bolognese onto the bottom of your spring form pan to coat it.Next, stand your pasta upright in your pan, putting in as many of possible. They should stand upright and should be quite packed in.Pipe the ricotta filling into each one of the pasta tubes about ½ way full.Sprinkle ¼-½ cup of the shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup of the parmesan cheese over and in-between the pasta. (this will help pasta to stick together).Next spoon some pasta sauce into or on top of the pasta (it will fill in the remaining space/gaps even if you spoon it on top and gently use a spatula to swirl it around). Add remaining sauce to cover.Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese mixture over top.Place the pie onto a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drips). Spray or grease a piece of aluminum foil with baking spray and cover the pie loosely, sprayed side down.Bake for 30-35 minutes.Uncover; bake 20 minutes longer or until the top is bubbly and golden brown.Let stand for 15 minutes before running a knife around the outside edge and carefully unclip and remove the springform. It is very hot at this point and if you cut it too soon, it will fall apart on you; you need the cheese to set a bit.Move to a serving platter (you may or may not be able to get the bottom piece of the spring form off - I usually serve it it from the pan).Slice into wedges and serve.