Spicy Italian Baked Rigatoni

Servings: 5 Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Difficulty: Beginner
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Spicy Italian Baked Rigatoni

An easy baked pasta dish with Italian sausage, pesto sauce, vodka and melted cheese. It’s a delicious dinner that the whole family will enjoy!

Print Recipe

Spicy Italian Baked Rigatoni

Author: Lorraine Cauchi Cooking Method: Cuisine: Courses: Recipe Keys: Meat & Poulty
Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 30 mins Cook Time 45 mins Total Time 1 hr 15 mins
Cooking Temp: 190  C Servings: 5
Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F.

  2. Cook pasta but not completely. Drain and transfer to a baking dish.

  3. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions. When they start to soften, add the crumbled sausage and cook until no longer pink.

  4. Add in the garlic and cook for just 1 minute until fragrant. Now add the herbs, tomato paste, vodka, 1/2 cup pesto, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

  5. Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.

  6. Turn up the heat, add the baby spinach and cook just until it wilts. Remove from heat and mix the sauce with the pasta in the baking dish.

  7. Top with fontina cheese, then drizzle the remaining pesto and finish off with shredded mozzarella and freshly ground pepper.

  8. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until cheese has melted and is lightly golden on top.

  9. Enjoy!