pasta al forno

This cheesy baked rigatoni is layered with rigatoni, ricotta cheese, ground sweet Italian sausage and beef, fresh mozzarella, and topped with fresh chopped basil and parmesan cheese.

Baked Rigatoni Recipe

rigatoni

sweet Italian sausage

85% beef

marinara

ricotta cheese, transferred

mozzarella cheese, cut into bite-sized cubes

basil leaves

Salt and pepper,

Bring a large pot of water with a pinch of salt to a boil. Cook pasta al dente, strain, and transfer to a bowl or back into the boiling pot once it&#8217;s cooled. Stir in 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 cups marinara. Mix and set aside.

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.

Take half of the pasta and layer filling the entire bottom of a 13X9 casserole 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 thinly and evenly. It will tend to stick. It&#8217;s best to work in small dollops and spread as best you can. It does not need to be perfect!

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

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

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

so so amazing recipe. A good(+easy+tasty) recipe + family time = What else we need in this tough time to cheer up! :)
I have been following your blog for a year now and loving it :)

stay safe! have a great day ahead

This very simple, easy to make creamy tagliolini pasta au gratin recipe is bound to be a winner with family and friends!

Tagliolini au gratin with ham and cream

tagliolini

150 g cooked ham ((5 ounces))

Parmesan cheese ((2 ounces) grated)

g butter ((2 ounces))

heavy cream

parsely

(for

black pepper (to taste)

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it starts to boil, add salt and bring to the boil again.

Cut the cooked ham into small pieces.&nbsp;

In a bowl, whisk the cream together with the egg yolks, salt and pepper.

Add the cooked ham and mix. 

Cook the pasta al dente in the boiling salted water according to the instructions on the packet. Save a cup of the cooking water when the pasta is almost cooked.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pan. Add the butter and most of the grated Parmesan cheese. if necessary add a little of the pasta cooking water to get a creamy consistency.&nbsp;

Put the pasta into a buttered oven dish.  Pour over the cream of ham and mix gently. Sprinkle with a little more grated Parmesan.

Bake in a hot 180 ° oven for 10-15 minutes and wait 2-3 minutes before serving the tagliolini au gratin. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley.

Pasta al Forno (oven baked pasta) is the ultimate Sunday Italian comfort food. Our decadent Torta di Rigatoni (rigatoni cake) is sure to impress and satisfy guests.  

Torta di Rigatoni

14OZ. rigatoni

beef broth

1/2CUP red wine

beef

veal

pork

celery

pancetta

onion

carrots

1 3/4OZ. milk

tomato paste

eggs

Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Bouquet garni (sage, rosemary, bay leaf, thyme)

unsalted butter

olive oil

salt

pepper

2CUPS milk

2 1/2TBSP. all-purpose flour

nutmeg

Cut the pancetta, celery, onion and carrots into 1/4" cubes. Sauté them in a large saucepan with a thin coating of butter over medium heat.&nbsp;

Bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan. In the meantime, brown the minced meat in a separate pan with 2 Tbsp. of oil over high heat, crumbling it with a whisk. After around 5 minutes, add it to the saucepan with the pancetta, celery, onion and carrots. Add the wine and cook for 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, add the tomato paste and bouquet garni and cover with the boiling broth. Simmer gently for at least 2 1/2 hours, adding a couple of ladles of broth from time to time, as the liquid evaporates. At the end, add the milk and cook for another 10 minutes.

For the béchamel: First, prepare the roux: melt the butter and add the flour while stirring constantly with a whisk until incorporated. Season with salt and nutmeg. Bring the milk to a boil, pour in the roux and cook for 4-5 minutes stirring constantly until the béchamel is glossy and thick.

For the torta: Bring water to boil in a large pot and add salt. Add the rigatoni to the salted boiling water. Drain 1 minute before the instructions on the package, being careful not to break them.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.&nbsp;

Mix the ragù with the eggs and set aside 7-8 tablespoons of it. Use the rest to dress the rigatoni.

Butter the bottom and sides of a springform pan (ø 9 1/2"). Arrange the rigatoni vertically in it. Spread the remaining ragù over the rigatoni, then béchamel, dollops of soft butter and 2 Tbsp. Parmigiano. Bake in a convection oven for around 20 minutes, until the surface has a golden crust.

A classic Italian pasta bake with homemade meat sauce and two tasty cheeses that is creamy, cheesy and perfectly oozy.

Pasta al Forno Recipe

rigatoni (500 grams)

onion (finely chopped)

oz pork

oz Italian sausage (170 grams)

tomato puree (passata) (750 milliliterss)

salt ((or

black pepper

mozzarella cheese (350 grams)

Pecorino Romano cheese (60 grams)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add finely chopped onion and a pinch of salt.

Fry for 5 minutes or until just taking on some color.

Add ground pork and skinned, crumbled sausage.

Increase the heat and cook until browned.

When the meat has browned and is well cooked, add the tomato puree (passata), ½ cup water, salt and pepper.

Stir well and when the sauce starts bubbling, turn the heat down to low, partly cover with the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to the boil.

Salt well (2 or 3 tablespoons of salt) and add the rigatoni pasta.

Check the package instructions and drain the pasta 3 or 4 minutes before being completely cooked. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water.

Now time to assemble! Firstly taste the meat sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.

Then add the pasta into the meat sauce along with ¾ of the mozzarella cheese, ¾ of Pecorino Romano cheese and some cooking water.

Mix together really well adding more cooking water if it looks dry. There should be sauce at the bottom of the dish. Most likely you’ll need about 1 cup of water but it could be up to 1 ½ cups. This will keep the pasta moist and make it creamy.

Tip into a baking dish 8 x 12 inches (20x30cm/12 cup capacity) and cover with remaining cheeses.

Bake 350ºF/180ºC for 20-25 minutes.

La crema di parmigiano è una salsa preparata come una besciamella ma arricchita con parmigiano grattugiato: ecco la ricetta.

Crema di parmigiano

500 ml Latte

g Burro

g Farina

Parmigiano grattugiato

Crema di parmigiano: step 1

Fate scaldare il latte senza portarlo a bollore. Nel frattempo sciogliete il burro in un pentolino e aggiungete la farina: mescolate con una frusta e amalgamate. Versate il latte caldo e continuate a mescolare per evitare la formazione di grumi. Fate addensare, mescolando, a fuoco basso.



Togliete dal fuoco e aggiungete il parmigiano grattugiato. Mescolate velocemente per far sciogliere il formaggio. Potete regolare la densità della crema facendola restare per meno tempo sul fuoco.

Crema di parmigiano: conclusione

Come si usa la crema di parmigiano?
Potete utilizzare la crema di parmigiano per condire degli antipasti sfiziosi o come salsa per una pasta al forno della domenica. Provate la crema di parmigiano per tortellini.
Come si conserva la crema di parmigiano?
Una volta raffreddata completamente potete conservare la crema di parmigiano in frigo per un massimo di 2 giorni. Prestate attenzione a chiuderla però in un contenitore ermetico per evitare che assorba gli odori del frigo. Per ottenere un composto fluido basterà tirarla fuori dal frigo e scaldarla leggermente in un pentolino.

Crema di parmigiano: variante

Per una crema di parmigiano senza burro potete sostituirlo con un pari quantitativo di olio extravergine di oliva. Se invece preferite una crema di parmigiano senza latte potete utilizzare un brodo vegetale leggerissimo da aggiungere tiepido. Se vi piace il parmigiano ecco qualche ricetta:

Baci di dama al parmigiano
Carpaccio di manzo rucola e parmigiano
Cestini di parmigiano
Flan di verdure con parmigiano
Flan zucca e parmigiano
Frittelle di patate e parmigiano
Frittelle di fiori di zucca e parmigiano
Gelato al parmigiano
Insalata di finocchi e parmigiano
Lagane ricotta e parmigiano
Mousse di parmigiano
Pasta burro e parmigiano
Pasta burro, alici e parmigiano
Ravioli zucca e parmigiano
Risotto spinaci e parmigiano
Zucca parmigiano e salvia

Delicious baked pasta recipe in a hearty meat sauce with mozzarella and pecorino cheese.

Pasta Al Forno

plum tomatoes

garlic

dry white wine

mozzarella

pecorino

Grate pecorino cheese and cube the block mozzarella.&nbsp; Chop onion and mince garlic.&nbsp; Crush the plum tomatoes by hand or pulse blend for 1-2 seconds.

In a large sauce pan on medium heat saute onions for 5 minutes in 1/4 cup olive oil or until translucent.&nbsp; Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes more.&nbsp;

Add ground beef and pork to pot and brown for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.&nbsp; Break up any large pieces with wooden spoon.&nbsp; Next, add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes more, mixing it all together.&nbsp;

Add the 1/2 cup of wine and cook for 5 more minutes.&nbsp; Add crushed plum tomatoes to pot and stir it all together.&nbsp; Once sauce starts bubbling turn heat to low and simmer for 30 plus minutes, the longer the better.&nbsp; Leave the pot partially covered while cooking and stir every 15 minutes to avoid sticking.

After the sauce has been simmering for a while boil pasta to "al dente" in salted (2 Tbsp kosher salt per gallon) water.&nbsp; Taste test the sauce and make any changes to salt or pepper if needed.&nbsp; Place 3 cups of the sauce in a large bowl with the cooked pasta and mix well.&nbsp;

Lightly oil a large baking dish and place a ladle of sauce on the bottom.&nbsp; Layer some of the pasta on top.&nbsp; Add half the cubed mozzarella and 1/4 cup of the pecorino all over.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Repeat with more pasta, a little bit of sauce, the remaining mozzarella and another 1/4 of pecorino.&nbsp; Bake in a 375f oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly.&nbsp; Serve with Italian bread, extra sauce, and grated pecorino. Enjoy!

This is just how I like to make sauce, simple &amp; with whole tomatoes. I added some basil (just because) to the oil with the sweated onions &amp; garlic - then used what cheese I had on hand: mozzarella, provolone, parmaesan, Romano w/ rigatoni pasta.  I added some pasta water back in to prevent dryness.  Served with homemade bread my 21 year old brought by &amp; left for us.  Came out great, my daughter loved it.  Cheers from So. CALIFORNIA &amp; Thanks as always.

Jim… I have a question regarding mozzarella and this recipe should you use fresh mozzarella or the polio or Bella Giosa brand of store-bought mozzarella? I know there is a difference and the texture and fat content. I would appreciate your opinion

I made this for a family of notoriously picky eaters, and everyone cleaned their plates, not once but twice.  I did add a generous pinch of red pepper flakes, but other than that followed the recipe exactly.  Accompanied by your amazing garlic bread and the Via Carota dressing over mixed greens, the evening couldn’t have gone better.   Thank you for sharing your fabulous recipes and all the helpful hints and tips.  Sip and Feast has become a game changer for me.

I did make it 2 fold..sauce one day pasta and put together to layer and bake 2nd…was awesome..my husband loved the meat sauce!

Great recipe!!  I didn't want extra sauce so I used half the tomatoes, paste and meat. The amount of sauce was perfect for one pound of mezzi paccheri (short rigatoni). It's just me and the wife so there were plenty of leftovers for the fridge and freezer. The recipe rating deserves 6 stars because my wife is still raving about it. She's a great cook and my biggest critic. If the recipe isn't good I'll hear about it in no uncertain terms. I did season the sauce but I took your recommendation to ease up on salt.

Found this quote above:
"Sip and Feast does not use jarred sauce ever."

Uhmm.. AMEN forever.  That's the reason why a bunch of us are HERE &amp; not somewhere else right now.  We want what only our Full Blood Italian grandma could make.  But now she's gone &amp; we never learned the right way.  In walks a guys who might as well have grown up in our own Grandma's kitchen, but took meticulous notes &amp; learned all the tricks.  Mostly because of you I now know how to make sauce probably 10 times better - it tastes like growing up again. I know a gigantic part of the equation is all the behind the scenes production which makes everything accessible &amp; readily understood.  Someone over there is really good at all this stuff.  You got a good thing going here, a bunch of us sure appreciate your channel 👍 thanks guys

I knew when I came across your recipes I would love them.  I love making meals with simple and fresh ingredients.

I wish I could rate this dish a 10. I followed the recipe, made no changes and we loved it. Normally, we’d have leftovers but we took this out in a day.  It’s a keeper. Already have a few others lined up. I sure hope you publish a cookbook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmfpjSpuAtc

This baked rigatoni pasta (pasta al forno) with beef and pork meat sauce is the ultimate comfort food dish!  In this 2nd episode of the meat sauce series, rigatoni is combined with mozzarella, Pecorino Romano cheese, and the hearty meat ragu that we made in the previous episode.  I hope you enjoy this cheesy baked pasta with meat sauce recipe! 

MEAT SAUCE RECIPE: https://youtu.be/TDXaeTehT9o

WATCH THE WHOLE MEAT SAUCE SERIES https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QyikC1o6v2IA68LB_Kp8AWShDOSyyjV

BAKED PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
-1 pound ground beef
-1 pound ground pork
-(3) 28 ounce can plum tomatoes
-1 6 ounce can tomato paste
-1 medium onion
-2 cloves garlic
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 pound rigatoni
-1 pound mozzarella
-3/4 cup pecorino

SERVE THIS WITH:
GARLIC GREEN BEANS https://youtu.be/i0JCKhUwp7U
Garlic Sauteed Broccoli Rabe https://youtu.be/p0N81NNy5rQ
Garlic and Oil Broccoli https://youtu.be/KNTR0fnO-_Y

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INSTAGRAM:
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PRINT RECIPE: (This recipe contains the recipe for the meat sauce as well)
https://www.sipandfeast.com/pasta-al-forno/

The Best Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce

This recipe is based on my Sicilian mother-in-law's version of pasta al forno. It's rich and tasty and perfect for when you have a large number to feed!

Pasta al forno (baked pasta the Italian way)

beef and pork mix or veal

glass white wine

g peas

carrot

garlic ((optional) garlic isn't always used

extra virgin olive oil

tomato

500 ml tomato pulp

salt and pepper

Chop the carrot, onion, garlic and celery finely.

Fry the vegetables in olive oil until they are softening. Be careful not to allow them to burn!

Add the minced meat and cook until browned.

Then add the tomato concentrate and stir well

Add the glass of wine and stir well again

When the wine has evaporated pour in the tomato pulp and mix it in well with the meat.

Add the basil leaves and salt and pepper as required.

Cover the sauce and allow to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. If it gets too thick add some water.

15 minutes before the sauce is ready add the peas.

First the meat ragu

Put salted water on to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes less than instructed on the packet. Strain and add the pasta to the meat sauce when it is ready.

Mix the pasta and sauce well and allow to cool.

Second prepare the pasta

Put a layer of pasta with sauce on the bottom of an oven dish.

Make another layer with thick pieces of mozzarella.

Add another layer of pasta with meat sauce and again some mozzarella

Finish with a layer of pasta.

Sprinkle with parmesan and bake in a pre-heated oven 180-200° until the top layer starts to crisp (30-40 mins)

Third put the pasta al forno together and bake.

Tasty. I replaced mozzarella with scamorza (as you suggest) which I happened to have and it made a lovely, stringy cheese core. I have a healthy appetite but even I find 100 gr of pasta per serving a bit much but, no worries, the rest goes in the oven for lunch the next day.
Thanks. Your site has become my 'go to' for genuine Italian recipes and I'm looking forward to challenging myself with a few filled pasta recipes.

This was really delicious, but I think i would add a stock pot when I next make it. When I was eating it I just felt like there was something missing, like it lacked a little bit of flavour. Great recipe though, any tweaks would be for personal preference

The best thing about pasta al forno is the fact that you actually don't need to follow any specific recipe, the only important thing is to have a bit of sauce that embraces the pasta (not too much!) in order to keep the humidity to decent levels. What we used to do in my family was to make more pasta for dinner (let's say 1kg instead of 500g) so that the leftover was used the day after to make pasta al forno (adding other leftovers we had in the fridge: the last bit of fresh pecorino, the final part of the leg of prosciutto etc). Cucina povera is the way.

If you remember the movie 'Big Night' you'll no doubt remember the elaborate pasta timballo filled with ground meat, tomato sauce, cheese and eggs. Timbales with sausage is a simpler version of this iconic dish baked in individual size molds. 

Timbales With Sausage

tomatoes

12OZ. anellini pasta (ring shaped)

sausage

5 1/2OZ. fresh shelled fava beans

3 1/2OZ. mild Caciocavallo cheese,

basil

thyme

marjoram

garlic clove,

white wine

bread crumbs

Remove the sausages from the casings and form into hazelnut size balls.

Sauté the garlic clove and a small bunch of basil, thyme and marjoram in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the tomatoes, season with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes.

Blanch the fava beans. To blanch the fava beans, bring water to a boil. Add salt. Add fava beans to boiling water and let cook for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water. Peel off the skin.&nbsp;

Boil the eggs in a saucepan for 10 minutes, then peel and chop.&nbsp;

Remove the herbs and the garlic from the tomato sauce and strain to obtain a smooth sauce.&nbsp;

Cook the anellini pasta in salted boiling water until al dente.

Grease 4 molds (5" diameter) with oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs (we use half-sphere molds). Distribute the pasta among them, covering the bottom and the sides. Place the meatballs in the center with the Caciocavallo cheese, fava beans, and eggs. Lastly, top with more pasta. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 2-3 minutes before removing from the molds. Turn molds upside-down to remove the timbales and serve with fresh sprouts or sprigs of wild fennel to taste.

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The most viewed pasta al forno recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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The most viewed pasta al forno recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine