Easy Baked Rigatoni

I generally spend one weekend day preparing food for the week ahead.  A pasta dish is always a winner for a few reasons.

1. The ingredients are cheap.
2. It reheats well making a perfect lunch for the remaining work days.
3. It freezes well so can be assembled and thrown in the oven an hour before dinner.

These are all qualities that I love in a weeknight dinner.  Yes I have made homemade “gravy” plenty of times but, for all time-intensive purposes, jarred sauce is a great base start to a very pleasing weeknight dinner without taking all day to make.  Hence the name, “Easy Baked Rigatoni.”

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 (24oz) jar pasta sauce
• 2 (15oz) cans diced tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12oz rigatoni
• Handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 log fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces

Directions:

1. Brown Italian sausage.  Drain and transfer to a heavy Dutch oven.
2. Add pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, fresh thyme, garlic, pepper, and salt.  Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
3. Cook rigatoni until al dente in salted water.  Drain but do NOT rinse.
4. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings as necessary.
5. Add basil and rigatoni to sauce and mix to combine.
6. Transfer to a freezer proof dish and top with mozzarella.
7. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbling.  If freezing, cook covered with foil for 50 minutes.  Remove foil and cook another 15 minutes until cheese is bubbling.

 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. butter (for sauce) + 1 Tbsp. butter (for topping)
• 2 cups milk
• 4 oz Parmesan (for sauce) + 1/4 cup (for topping), coarsely grated
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp. chopped tarragon
• 3 cups medium shells
• 1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (5oz) can tuna, drained
• 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a heavy skillet.  Add shallots and flour, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes.  Slowly add mix and continue to simmer until sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon, ~10 minutes.  Turn heat to low, add Parmesan until homogenous.
3. Add paprika and tarragon.
4. Boil medium shells until al dente.  Drain in colander.
5. Add shells, celery, beans, and tuna to skillet.  Stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Transfer to an oven safe dish.
7. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. butter until melted.  Add breadcrumbs to combine.  Remove to a bowl and stir in remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.  Top casserole with breadcrumbs mixture.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes until breadcrumbs are browned and casserole is heated thoroughly.