Description
A comforting and hearty Lasagna Casserole featuring rigatoni pasta layered with a savory Italian sausage tomato sauce and a creamy ricotta cheese mixture, all baked to bubbly perfection with melted mozzarella cheese on top.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta
- 10 oz rigatoni
Sauce
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 24 oz pasta sauce
Ricotta Mixture
- 2 large eggs whisked
- 1 cup ricotta
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Dish: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set it aside for later use.
- Cook Pasta: Cook the rigatoni in salted boiling water according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain well and set the pasta aside.
- Make Meat Sauce: Brown the Italian sausage in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Once browned, add the diced onion, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and kosher salt. Cook together until the onion is softened, about 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add Pasta Sauce: Pour the jarred pasta sauce into the sausage mixture, bring it to a simmer, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Prepare Ricotta Mixture: In a bowl, combine the whisked eggs, ricotta, kosher salt, chopped fresh parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix thoroughly until well combined.
- Combine Pasta and Sauce: Add the prepared meat sauce to the cooked rigatoni pasta and stir well to combine evenly.
- Assemble Casserole: Pour the sauced pasta into the prepared baking dish. Distribute the ricotta mixture into 6 mounds evenly spaced on top of the pasta. Gently stir parts of the ricotta mixture into the pasta to create pockets of creamy cheese throughout the casserole. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven at 350°F for 45 minutes until the casserole is bubbly and the cheese is fully melted.
- Optional Browning: For a golden-brown cheese topping, turn the oven broiler on for the last 1 to 2 minutes of baking, watching carefully to prevent burning.
Notes
- Use high-quality cheese by freshly grating Parmesan and shredding mozzarella from a block to enhance flavor and texture.
- It can be challenging to spread the ricotta mixture evenly; using multiple dollops spread across the casserole works best and creates delicious pockets of cheese.
- To achieve a golden brown cheese crust, broil the casserole for 1 to 2 minutes at the end of baking, but watch closely to avoid burning.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 850 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 28 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
