Best 7 Cheesy Sausage Rigatoni Recipes

EASY ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND RIGATONI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large baking dish.
• Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Combine spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add sausage and onion mixture; stir until well combined. Add pasta and carefully mix until well incorporated. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with remaining mozzarella, and bake, uncovered, until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

RIGATONI WITH SAUSAGE & FENNEL

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned. Add the garlic, crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper and cook for one minute. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil, and add the heavy cream, half-and-half, and tomato paste. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons salt, and cook the rigatoni according to the directions on the package. Drain and add to the sauce, stirring to coat the pasta. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Serve hot in shallow bowls with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan on the side.

RIGATONI WITH BROCCOLINI AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions for al dente, adding the broccolini for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Reserve 2 1/2 cups of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and broccolini and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste, red pepper flakes and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring, until sizzling, 30 seconds. Add 2 cups of the reserved pasta water, bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Add the pasta, broccolini and parsley to the sauce and toss to coat, adding more water if needed. Taste and add salt if necessary. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the grated cheese, then toss well. Top each serving with more grated cheese.

CHEESY BAKED PASTA WITH SAUSAGE AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Crumble sausage into skillet, using a spoon to break it into small pieces. Cook until starting to brown, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes (if using), and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in whole tomatoes and their juice, using a spoon to break them up. Add crushed tomatoes, bay leaves and 2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.
• Stir in pasta and 1 cup water and return to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, pluck out the bay leaves, and fold in about a third of the mozzarella.
• Top pasta with remaining mozzarella and dollops of ricotta. Sprinkle with Parmesan, then transfer to oven. Bake until pasta is tender when poked with a fork, and cheese is bubbly and lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. (If you'd like a more deeply browned topping, run the pan under the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes.) Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Top with basil, plenty of black pepper, and more red-pepper flakes, if you like.

RIGATONI WITH SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the sausage and use a fork to crumble the sausage into the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high, and fully cook the sausage, adding some of the pasta water to deglaze the pan.
• Cook the rigatoni until just shy of al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Add the pasta to the pan with the sausage, reserving the cooking liquid, and add the parsley. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook, tossing, until the spinach has wilted. Add some of the reserved cooking liquid, if needed. Remove from the heat. Crumble the goat cheese with a fork and add it along with the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add a bit more of the cooking liquid if needed and serve.

RIGATONI WITH CHEESE AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Cook rigatoni in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta.
• Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Cook sausage in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, stirring frequently and breaking up with back of wooden spoon. Add garlic and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Drain off excess oil and return pot to medium-high heat. Stir in marinara sauce and crushed red pepper, then pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide pasta among four 1 1/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan over. Place in broiler until cheese melts and begins to brown, watching closely to prevent burning, about 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle rigatoni with parsley, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE RIGATONI BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Cook rigatoni according to package directions; drain., In a large skillet, cook sausage, mushrooms and pepper over medium-high heat until sausage is no longer pink and vegetables are tender, breaking up sausage into crumbles, 8-10 minutes; drain. Stir in marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese and cream. Add rigatoni and toss to coat., In each of 2 greased 8-in. square baking dishes, layer one-fourth of the rigatoni mixture and one-fourth of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered, until heated through and cheese is melted, 25-35 minutes. (Cover loosely with foil if tops brown too quickly.) Freeze option: Cool unbaked casseroles; cover and freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake casseroles as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in center to read 165°.