The delicious taste is the focus of this simple rigatoni pasta bake dish. You may make this well-liked dish by combining garlic, tomato sauce, fresh basil, and mozzarella slices. Vegetarians, listen up: baked rigatoni is a delicious way to enjoy classic Italian tastes with no meat. This pasta dish has all the ease of a traditional tomato sauce and cheese, but the flavors are fresh and unexpected. Garlic and fennel add meatiness to the tomato sauce, while lots of fresh, spicy basil adds a unique herbal note. Add a slice of mozzarella cheese on top, and you have a meal that can satisfy even the heartiest of appetites. The tangy tomato heat of the sauce in this baked rigatoni dish is undeniable. You'll find that we employed a few shortcuts to get a fantastic taste with less work. You'll need the following items: Pasta with a Marinara sauce and rigatoni put to good use the quality brand you choose. Diced Fire-Roasted Tomatoes You can substitute high-quality chopped tomatoes if you can't locate them. Read on for some more meat cooked over an open flame! The secret to authentic Italian garlic taste! Onion and fennel powder that’s why they make it taste more like meat. Basil that has just been picked Add some heat with some fresh basil for a herbal finish. Tender, ripe mozzarella Substitute shredded mozzarella if you can't locate it. Shaved Parmesan the gratings of parmesan cheese provide a satisfying texture to the dish. Southern and central Italy are known for their usage of rigatoni, a tube-shaped pasta with ridges on the exterior. It has a greater diameter than penne and is sliced in a straight rather than a diagonal fashion. In Italian, right means "striped," and that's where the name "rigatoni" comes from.
It's a staple in the food section of most supermarkets. What is it about rigatoni that makes it so special? Rigatoni has more substance than penne and may better absorb sauces due to its shape. Still, it's a close enough cousin to penne to serve as a stand-in. Since rigatoni is a short pasta, it may be replaced with any other short pasta. The meat often used in rigatoni dishes is removed from this baked version. This makes it even more convenient as a vegetarian staple than many others. The key to success is as simple as that: Prepare the pasta until it is slightly chewy. Keep in mind that pasta cooks a bit more while it sits in the pan. See down for additional information! Make the sauce. Sauté garlic, add marinara, roasted tomatoes, and seasonings, and boil for only a few minutes. Mix, add cheese over top, and heat. You will bake for 25 minutes: 15 minutes covered in foil, 10 minutes uncovered. Defining "al dente": The Italian word literally means "bite," and it describes pasta that retains some of its firmness even after being cooked. A white dot should appear in the middle of well-cooked al dente pasta, with a soft outside and a firm bite. It's important to remember that the rigatoni in this recipe will continue to cook even after you remove it from the heat. Following these steps will ensure your pasta is cooked to a perfect al dente: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the pasta. Pasta needs frequent checks to verify whether it's done cooking. Once the pasta is soft on the outside but has a white spot in the center, drain it! Even a few seconds may be the difference between al dente and Mashi noodles. It's possible to prepare the dough just before baking. Then put it in the fridge to cook! Only keep it in the fridge for a day at the most, per our recommendation. You may need to cook a bit longer - make sure the tube is hot and the cheese is thoroughly melted. The last word on the recipe's components:
roasted tomatoes from a can work well. The use of fire for barbecuing? Those luscious canned fried tomatoes are a treat. So you don't have to spend a lot of time boiling to have a nice flavor. These days, you can get roasted tomatoes in the canned goods section of any supermarket. It's a bit less crucial to utilize these tomatoes for a dish like this one when you blend them with marinara sauce. So if you can't locate them: purchase the greatest quality tomatoes you can find! This rigatoni is a blank slate for your favorite condiments. Some potential condiments are listed below. Meat or Vegetables That Have Been Prepared and Cooked Beef Shreds: For a classic dish, roast some ground meat or diced vegetables. Before serving, toss them in with the pasta and sauce. Or put it in your homemade spaghetti sauce! Vegetarian Lasagna Filling: Sauté Spinach and Mushrooms. Diverse Veggies Toss in any extra roasted veggies you have on hand! For example, you may use kale, red bell pepper, zucchini, or any other vegetable you choose. Turn the oven temperature up to 375 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil.
Soak the pasta in water that has been salted and then bring it to a boil. Cook the rigatoni in salted water until it reaches an "al dente" texture (start tasting a few minutes earlier than recommended on the package - you want it to be soft but a little firm on the inside - usually about 7-8 minutes). Drainage meanwhile cut the garlic. In a separate saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and fennel seeds and fry for 1 to 2 minutes until aromatic. After 1 minute, add the basil, marinara sauce, and tomatoes and mix to combine. Add a half cup of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of red pepper flakes, 14 teaspoons of onion powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt. Get out of the flames. The pasta should be drained before adding it to the baking dish with the sauce. Cover it with shredded mozzarella. Scatter grated Parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Throw it in the oven for 15 minutes with the foil on top. When the 10 minutes are up, take off the foil and continue baking. Remove the skillet from the oven and sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt on top. Give it five minutes to settle. Sprinkle over some chopped basil as a finishing touch. (Prepare the pasta as directed in Step 4 and keep it covered with foil.) Put in the fridge and cook within 24 hours.
Rigatoni Pasta No Meat
This rigatoni pasta dish with tomato and parmesan sauce not only has a wonderful flavor but also makes you feel rather satisfied after eating it. This tomato sauce is produced from scratch, and after simmering for a little under an hour, freshly grated parmesan cheese is stirred into this no-meat sauce. The use of parmesan cheese results in the creation of a sauce that is beyond compare in terms of its silkiness and opulence. When it comes to the sauce, rigatoni pasta is often treated to a preparation that is heartier and creamier than the treatment that is given to other types of pasta. This is because rigatoni pasta is typically served with meatier and more flavorful toppings. The fact that this parmesan sauce can maintain its structure even after being cooked is one of the many reasons why it is so delicious. If you can't buy rigatoni, you may substitute penne pasta. This dish revolves around the sauce, which serves as the focal point of the dish overall. Let's take a moment to talk about the many components that go into making up this whole, shall we? In order to get started preparing the sauce, the first thing you will need to do is sauté some onions in olive oil. This will allow you to begin the sauce-making process off to a good start. Because of this, you will be able to get the sauce off to a strong beginning. If you think that this amount of onion is excessive, you are more than welcome to use a smaller portion of it if that is what you want. When the onion is left to stew in the sauce, the flavor of the sauce is enhanced, which is the opposite of what happens when it is removed immediately.
Include some red pepper that has been diced up in the dish. If you like items of that kind, do you believe that they might need a little more of a shock in order to capture your attention? Don't be hesitant to sprinkle in a little piece of your own unique personality every once in a while as you go through the process! Incorporate garlic and salt in accordance with one's taste, and then thoroughly combine all of the ingredients. To create a sauce that has a texture similar to that of velvet, dump the contents of a big can of Italian tomatoes into a blender or food processor and puree the contents. This will produce a sauce that has a texture similar to that of silk. The ketchup you now have is just in the first stages of its development. After including all of the components of the sauce in the dish, bring the temperature down to a low setting and let it simmer for half an hour. While the sauce is simmering, be sure to give it a thorough swirl many times to avoid it from burning on the bottom of the pan and clinging to the sides of the dish. Because of this, the sauce will cook at a uniform rate throughout. As soon as the sauce reaches a boil, it should be removed from the heat immediately, and some chopped fresh basil should be whisked in, along with some butter. That won't be a problem at all; feel free to put it to use in any way that you think is appropriate. This adds to the dish's already amazing level of perfection, which was already quite high, to begin with. The last step in the preparation of the sauce is the addition of a considerable amount of grated parmesan cheese. This provides the sauce with its signature flavor and texture.
You are going to need to make use of freshly grated parmesan in order to generate a melt that is silky and smooth. If you use the Kraft Parmesan cheese that comes in a shaker jar, the cheese will not melt in the manner that it should. Because the flavor of any meal may be drastically altered by the addition of even a little amount of cheese, it is important to refrain from adding an excessive amount of it. You will be able to prepare a sauce that is as silky as silk if you follow these guidelines to the letter. Before making use of the oil, it is advisable to first bring it to a temperature of around medium in a saucepan. In addition to the chopped onion, use some salt in the recipe as well. Keep tossing the onions constantly until they have completely changed color, which should take around 10 minutes (about 5 minutes). Include garlic in the recipe; this is an important step that shouldn't be skipped. In order to ensure proper cooking, the total length of time should be increased by one minute while stirring. Include some crushed red pepper, some chopped tomatoes, and some Italian spice in the mixture. It is essential to first bring the mixture to a full and rolling boil before afterwards reducing the temperature to that of the medium. For the first 45 minutes of the sauce's cooking time, it should be done over low heat with constant stirring to prevent it from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
While the sauce is becoming warmer, bring the rigatoni to a boil in accordance with the directions on the box. However, take it off the heat as soon as it begins to soften, which should be after about 8 minutes of cooking time. While the sauce is heating up, you should get started on this (after about 8 minutes). The meat receives its ultimate degree of doneness from the sauce, which ends the cooking process. The tomato sauce should have around a third of a cup's worth of finely chopped fresh basil added to it, and the two components should be combined. After that, you'll need to melt the butter before adding it to the other ingredients, so get started on that now. Melt little quantities of cheese into the tomato sauce while swirling it regularly (about a quarter cup at a time). After the spaghetti has been well drained, the tomato sauce should be added to the spaghetti, and the two ingredients should then be blended together. If you mix the rigatoni often while it is cooking in the sauce, you can guarantee that it is covered uniformly with the sauce. Just before you bring the dishes to the table, top each one with some grated parmesan cheese and some fresh basil that has been chopped into pieces.