Cheesy Rigatoni Pepper Bake Recipes

CHEESY RIGATONI BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a 6-qt. stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; return to pot. Cool slightly., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour and salt until smooth; gradually whisk in milk and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat., Add eggs to pasta, tossing to coat. Divide mixture between two greased 8-in. square baking dishes. Layer each dish with one can tomato sauce, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and half of the white sauce; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer reads 160°, 30-35 minutes. Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked casseroles. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 375°. Cover casserole with foil; bake 40 minutes. Uncover; bake until a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°, 7-10 minutes.

CHEESY SAUSAGE RIGATONI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni according to the package instructions; drain and set aside to cool.
• Saute the onions in the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Crumble in the sausage, add the crushed red pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the marinara sauce, mix everything together and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• To assemble, add about 2 spoonfuls of the sauce--just enough to coat the bottom--to a baking dish. Then layer half of the cooled noodles, half of the mozzarella cubes and half of the remaining sauce. Repeat the process: layer the remaining noodles, mozzarella and sauce, then top with the Parmesan. Cover and put in the fridge or freezer until ready to cook.
• When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the rigatoni until heated through and bubbling, 25 minutes straight from the fridge, or 2 hours straight from the freezer. Garnish with minced parsley before serving.

BAKED RIGATONI WITH TOMATOES, OLIVES AND PEPPER

Steps:

• Pulse tomatoes with juice in a food processor to a coarse purée. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
• In a large heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add yellow pepper. Cook, stirring often, until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute.
• Add tomatoes, sugar and salt to taste, and turn up heat to medium-high. When tomatoes begin to bubble briskly and sputter, turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes have cooked down to a fragrant, thick sauce, about 15 minutes. Add olives, black pepper and basil, stir together, taste and adjust seasoning.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish or gratin with olive oil.
• When water in pot comes to a boil, salt generously and add rigatoni. Cook al dente, removing from the water 1 minute sooner than indicated in the package instructions. (Reserve some of the cooking water.) Transfer pasta to a large bowl.
• If the tomato sauce seems very thick, thin out as desired with 2 to 4 tablespoons pasta cooking water. Scrape into bowl with pasta, add cheeses and toss well. Scrape into prepared baking dish. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top. Cover with foil.
• Bake 25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake another 5 to 10 minutes, until bubbly and beginning to brown in spots. Serve hot.

ROASTED PEPPER RAVIOLI BAKE

Steps:

• Place peppers on a broiler pan. Broil 4 in. from the heat until skins blister, about 6-8 minutes. With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. , Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to package directions; drain. Peel off and discard charred skin from peppers. Remove stems and seeds. Finely chop peppers; drain. In a large bowl, combine the peppers, oil, sugar and salt. , Spread 1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer with ravioli, pepper mixture and cheese. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. , Cover and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until heated through.

BAKED RIGATONI WITH RED PEPPERS AND GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Cook onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until onion is slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add roasted red peppers and salt; season with black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is jammy, 8-10 minutes. Add olives, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste is slightly darkened in color, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you go, and their liquid and cook, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.
• While sauce is cooking, place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente (about 2 minute less than package directions; pasta will continue to cook in the oven). Drain pasta, reserving ⅓ cup pasta cooking liquid.
• Add pasta and reserved pasta cooking liquid to sauce. Reduce heat to medium and stir in butter, oregano, and half of Parmesan. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and glossy and coats pasta, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in half of mozzarella.
• Transfer pasta to a 13x9" baking dish and spread into an even layer. Scatter remaining Parmesan and mozzarella over. Bake until bubbling around the edges, 15-20 minutes.
• Heat broiler. Broil pasta until top is brown and crisp in spots, about 3 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then top with basil for serving.

PEPPERONI RIGATONI BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a casserole pan and set aside.
• Cook rigatoni pasta according to package directions to al dente.
• While pasta is boiling, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, green peppers, garlic, mushrooms, basil and oregano; saute for about 7 minutes or until veggies are tender.
• Add the crushed tomatoes and sugar to the saucepan; stir well and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.
• When pasta is done, drain.
• Using the hot empty pot that the pasta just cooked in, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, sour cream, egg, parsley and salt; mix until smooth.
• Return the hot drained rigatoni to the ricotta/sour cream mixture. Gently fold/stir together.
• Place half of the creamy rigatoni mixture on the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.
• Evenly pour half of the tomato sauce mixture over top.
• Evenly place all of the pepperoni slices over top.
• Sprinkle with 1 cup only of the mozzarella cheese.
• Layer remaining rigatoni mixture on top, then remaining tomato sauce mixture, then the last 1 cup of mozzarella.
• Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
• Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.
• Best to let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

AWESOME CHEESY RIGATONI BAKE

Steps:

• Set oven to 350°F.
• Grease a 13 x9-inch casserole dish.
• Cook the rigatoni until firm-tender (do not overcook as it will cook more when baked) toss with 2 tbsp oil to prevent drying out; set aside.
• Cook beef with onions, garlic, seasoned salt and pepper until beef is done and no longer pink; drain off fat.
• Stir in pasta sauce; simmer 20 minutes.
• In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and eggs.
• On the bottom of the casserole dish spread 1-1/2 cups meat sauce.
• Top with half each, the cooked rigatoni, ricotta cheese mixture and meat sauce.
• Repeat layer ending with meat sauce.
• Top with remaining cheese.
• Bake uncovered until hot and bubbly, about 30-35 minutes.
• Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
• Note: canned sliced mushrooms may be added to meat sauce if desired.