Best Baked Mozzarella Rigatoni Recipes

BAKED MOZZARELLA RIGATONI

Steps:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare fresh Basil leaves by tearing or chopping them into dime-sized pieces and set aside.
• Cut about five slices of the fresh Mozzarella cheese and set aside.
• Cube the remaining Mozzarella cheese and set aside. I use about half of the cheese as cubes and about half as slices.
• Dice the tomatoes and set aside.
• Pour the Olive oil into your favorite skillet and apply medium heat.
• Fill a large pot with water, and apply high heat to boil the pasta.
• Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking dish that is about 2 inches deep.
• Into a large bowl, combine the Marinara sauce, the diced tomatoes, the Basil, the Oregano, the red pepper flakes and the cubes of Mozzarella.
• Remove the casings from the sausages and brown in the skillet, breaking the sausages into clumps.
• Cook the Rigatoni in the boiling water until just tender. I like to add olive oil and salt to the water here, but you may cook your pasta how you like.
• After the pasta and sausage are cooked, add both to the large bowl and thoroughly, but gently, combine.
• Once everything has been mixed, pour the contents of the bowl into the baking dish.
• Place the slices of Mozzarella on top of the mixture. I like to cut the slices into smaller slices so I get a nice even distribution of Mozzarella on the top of the mixture.
• Place in the pre-heated oven, on the middle rack, and bake for about 20 minutes.

BAKED RIGATONI WITH AUBERGINE & MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/gas 3. Halve the tomatoes through their equator, rather than their core. Stand them cut-side up on a shallow baking tray (I use a nonstick Swiss roll tin). Scatter a little salt, pepper and sugar over the cut surfaces and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, slice the aubergine into rounds, brush both sides with oil and spread out in one layer on another tray. After the tomatoes have been roasting for 45 minutes, put the aubergines in with them and roast for another 45 minutes.
• Towards the end of the time, cook the pasta in plenty of gently boiling well-salted water until nearly al dente - it should be undercooked because it finishes off in the oven. Drain well and tip into a large bowl. Have ready 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil mixed with the crushed garlic and chopped olives. Toss the oil mixture through the pasta and turn half of it into a 2-21⁄2 litre ovenproof dish.
• Remove the tomatoes and aubergines from the oven. (You can prepare them up to 24 hours ahead.)
• Turn up the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Scatter half the tomatoes and their juices over the pasta in the dish. Roughly tear the basil leaves and scatter on top. Drain the mozzarella, pat dry with kitchen paper, then slice very thinly. Lay two-thirds of the slices over the tomatoes. Grind black pepper over, and scatter over the aubergine. Add the rest of the pasta, top with the remaining tomatoes and mozzarella and then the parmesan. (Can be made up to here 3-4 hours in advance). Bake for 20-25 minutes, until piping hot and the top is extra crusty. Serve hot with a sprinkle of basil and extra parmesan.