Three Cheese Italian Rigatoni Pie

Do you get into a pasta slump in your household?  I find there’s only so many times you can have spaghetti and spaghetti sauce without wanting to switch it up.  Which is why I totally jumped on board when I saw this recipe for Italian rigatoni pie from Noble Pig.  You use a spring-form pan, stand up all the rigatoni noodles in it and suddenly you have a new and exciting way to serve pasta!

There are other recipes out there where you make the sauce from scratch, but my busy kids don’t give me enough time for that!  I like to use a jar of my favourite pasta sauce instead.  If you prefer to make the sauce yourself, I’m sure it would be even more delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 pound Rigatoni
• 1 jar of your favourite pasta sauce (approximately 2.5 cups, give or take. If it's slightly more or less, just use it all)
• ½ cup of water
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound ground beef or ground pork
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 container cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese)
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Cook the Rigatoni in a large pot of salted, boiling water. Make sure you use enough water because the rigatoni sucks up a lot. Cook it about 1 minute less than the package directions so it is still hard enough to stand up. Drain the pasta and rinse under cold water.
2. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon of oil to prevent it from sticking. Then add the parmesan cheese and toss until the cheese is evenly distributed. Set aside.
3. In a large frying pan, brown the ground beef in 1 Tablespoon of oil. Drain away the fat once it's cooked.
4. Add the jar of pasta sauce and water and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes. The longer you simmer the better. Just make sure you add more water if it all boils off.
6. Remove from heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
7. Mix together the container of cottage cheese and the egg. Set aside.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Grease a 9 inch sprinform pan.
10. Take the cooked rigatoni and stand each piece up on its end in the pan. Continue until the whole pan is tightly packed.
11. Pour the cottage cheese mixture over the rigatoni and spread evenly over all the noodles.
12. Pour the meat mixture over top and spread evenly over the noodles. Use your finger to poke the meat and cheese mixture down into the noodles. The more patience you have with this step, the better it will be.
13. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F.
14. Remove from the oven and top with the mozzarella cheese.
15. Bake for another 15 minutes at 400F.
16. Let stand for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge of the pan to help remove the springform pan.

More Deliciouse Recipe Three Cheese Italian Rigatoni Pie @ onelittleproject.com