6 Thumbs up!! TwilaLite's Baked Rigatoni Cake :)

Unseasonably cool and rainy weather today, so thought I'd put this recipe together that I copied a while back.     Stacking the pasta was a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end as all the rigatoni got full of the yummy filling!

I've got one guy who doesn't like tomato chunks and one guy who turns his nose up at meat/sausage, so I cooked as directed, the tossed the whole thing into the food processor to take care of the big chunks.   Added a few large spoonfuls of ragu for color/texture.  


Huge hit here, so much so that I didn't even get a chance to take the picture until after we'd eaten and it had cooled off!   Thanks TwilaLite for a winning recipe, one to be sure to be made often.


If you have no desire to stand the pasta up, it would be just as good tossed together into a casserole dish and baked. 

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                           Baked Rigatoni Cake

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  1              pound  rigatoni pasta
  2        tablespoons  olive oil -- (omitted)
  1              pound  ground meat (beef -- pork, or turkey)--used italian sausage patties
  2                     garlic cloves -- minced
     1/4      teaspoon  freshly ground pepper
  1                can  crushed tomatoes -- (28 ounces)-- used diced with basil & Oregano
                        Butter -- for pan (omitted, sprayed pan with Pam)
  1                cup  finely grated Parmesan cheese
  8             ounces  coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add pasta; cook until slightly underdone. Drain, rinse in cold water, and drain. Toss pasta with 1 tablespoon oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end.

Spread 2 cups meat sauce on top of pasta, pushing it into holes. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake until cheese is pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove from oven, and let stand 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen; unmold. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.

Source:
  "http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/p/703452/5999263.aspx#5999263"
Ratings       : Scale of 1 to 10 10
             

NOTES : Ran through food processor to get the big chunks out.   Filled rigatoni nicely!

Ga  and Thanks Sweetie for such a nice review ~  I have made many of these before, but never with the pasta standing up ~   The springform pan works great ~  Sounds like a great recipe ~  Thanks for your review and Thanks Twila for sharing the recipe ~  Janie

:)  We're no stranger to the pasta bake around these parts either  :)   And they are always a huge hit!   But the way that the sauce fills up the noodles is just great, even if it's a little fussy!     :) 


   Chilly here today, want to join me in a cup?  

Oh I see, I had to take another look at the instructions and picture. Very cool looking. Thank-you Twila and Jolene, great rec & rev.

Jill

Hold the sugar ~  and I'll get some cookies ~  Janie

That picture looks so good.  Thanks for the recipe and review.  I think it would be a little time consuming with standing them on end.  It would be great with the sauce filling up the noodles.  Janies Idea of just putting it in a springform pan sounds like it is right up my alley lol!

i have a question....does the rigatoni come in different widths?  I saw a commercial for olive garden and it was stuffed with cheese and looked so good.  I wish I had a recipe for that as we don't have an Olive Garden around here....

piggykins

HI Jillie!   :)   It actually took less than 5 mins to get them all in the pan standing up, I kept the pan slightly tilted and built from the bottom up.


Piggykins, you definitely need to do the springform if you want to cut it in slices like the picture, would make a huge mess trying to get it out of a walled pan!     I know the commercial for Olive Garden that always catches my eye is for the Lasagan Rollatini, which they take lasagna noodles and roll them around a cheese filling.   I've made lasagna rolls before, also well rec'd by the family!  

Appy_Girl:

Hold the sugar ~  and I'll get some cookies ~  Janie

Funny, because I just finished a package of coconut M&Ms and was wondering how they'd be baked in cookies!

It sure looked more complicated than 5 minutes.  I do have a springform pan.  Thanks for telling me you knew what commercial I was talking about Lasagna Rollatini sure looks good too....

piggykins

That is neat, thanks Jolene.

Hmmmm, i'll take a cup and a cookie please. Oh, let's see, what can I bring too?

: ^ )

Piggykins, here are the ones I made:

What a winner.Thank for your review Jolene.

 And Twila for sharing another goodie.

 Rosie

And I just snagged that Recipe !~  Janie  ~

Hey Jillie, Just bring your cute self ~ and drag along ~ anyone else that wants to join in ~

Hi  me me me  count me in for cookies and a cuppa of anything...so good to see  you my friend Jolene, I keep checking in on the  knitting forum just to keep up with  you and  yours     this looks mighty good     and I did not know M and Ms came in coconut flavor, yummmm  a co worker bought a box of  I think it was a discounted box of Starbucks and they were  M and M's mocha flavored and they were so good.  Again so good to hear from you ,      Shirley