Baked Rigatoni and Meatballs. Spread the rigatoni and meatball mixture in the pan, leveling it off with a spatula. Pour the milk over the dish, the I have done baked Rigatoni with meatballs and loved it, but I did the meatballs in tomato sauce and then mixed in the béchamel before putting it together with the rigatoni and baking it. Crisp, burnt rigatoni edges; melted mozzarella cheese; rich, sweet tomato sauce; and little meatballs all nestled inside this beautiful mess.

Dry pasta and meatballs get baked with mozzarella and marinara in this genius shortcut recipe. Place the bread on a baking sheet. Remove from the pan to a plate while you make the rigatoni and sauce. You can cook Baked Rigatoni and Meatballs using 19 ingredients and 5 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Baked Rigatoni and Meatballs

You need 1 box (16 oz.) of rigatoni noodles.
You need 2 cups of ricotta cheese.
It's 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
It's of Sauce:.
You need 1 tbsp. of olive oil.
It's 3 cloves of garlic, minced.
You need 3 cans (8 oz.) of each unsalted tomato sauce.
It's 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
Prepare 1 tsp. of each dried basil, dried parsley.
It's 1/2 tsp. of each salt, granulated sugar, onion powder.
You need 1/4 tsp. of pepper.
It's of Meatballs:.
It's 1 lb. of ground beef.
Prepare 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs.
It's 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Prepare 1 of large egg.
You need 1 tsp. of dried parsley.
You need 1/2 tsp. of each salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, basil.
It's 1 tbsp. of olive oil.

Divide the pasta mixture among them; top with cheese, then bake and broil. This delicious meatball and pasta recipe is the perfect family dinner. The pasta bake features Napolina's rigatoni pasta, tomatoes and olive oil for the. How do you make Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Meatballs?

Baked Rigatoni and Meatballs instructions

First thing to do is get your sauce going. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the garlic. Cook and stir just until it's fragrant... only a minute or two. Then pour in the tomato sauce, cream, sugar and seasonings. Once it starts to simmer, reduce the heat down to low and start preparing the meatballs..
For the meatballs, place the ground beef, breadcrumbs, cheese, egg and seasonings into a large bowl. Use your hands to mix and incorporate everything together. Then roll the meat mixture into mini meatballs. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Once it's hot, add the meatballs to the skillet in batches. Cook and roll them around in the skillet every few minutes until they are browned on all sides. Then remove them from the skillet and stir them gently into the sauce..
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13" baking pan and set it aside. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat. Once it begins to boil, stir in the rigatoni pasta and cook according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and return to the pot. Then stir the ricotta cheese into the hot pasta. Add the sauce and meatballs to the pot and stir it all together. Then turn it out into the greased pan and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top..
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, or until heated through and the cheese has a nice golden color. Serve immediately..
If you only wanted to bake a smaller serving at a time, you could turn out the pasta mixture into two greased 8x8"baking pans instead of the larger 9x13". Top one with cheese and cook it immediately. Let the second one cool down completely, then top with the cheese, wrap it up tightly and place it in the freezer. The night before you're planning on baking it, place it in the fridge to thaw out overnight, then bake it for 30-40 minutes or until 165°F throughout. Each 8x8" pan will serve 4 people..

You'll start by cooking up a pot of our homemade Italian Tomato Sauce. While that simmers away on the stove, you'll make a batch of our Italian-Style Meatballs - some of the meatballs to be used in this baked rigatoni recipe. Rigatoni Meatball Bake. with garlic bread. What Is there to say about a rigatoni meatball bake that hasn't been said? It's comfort food, but you already know that.