Rigatoni Sausage Dump Casserole
A tasty Itialina inspired meal that's ridiculously easy to make. Perfect for those night's when you're just too tired to cook.
Ingredients
- butter or non-stick cooking spray
- 26 oz (1 jar) marinara sauce
- 2¾ cups beef broth
- ½ can (3 oz) tomato paste
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 lb uncooked rigatoni
- 1 lb uncooked Italian sausage
- 10 oz ricotta cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms, optional
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Grease a 13" X 9" casserole dish.
- In a large bowl, stir together marinara sauce, beef broth, tomato paste, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper until well combined.
- Spread ½ the uncooked pasta in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish in an even layer.
- Using your fingers, break up the sausage into small ½ inch pieces. Scatter ½ the sausage as evenly as possible over the top of the pasta.
- Using a teaspoon, dollop ½ the ricotta cheese as evenly as you can, over the pasta and sausage in the cassserole dish.
- Top using ½ the sliced mushrooms.
- Pour half the marinara sauce as evenly as you can over the pasta, sausage, ricotta cheese, and mushrooms in the casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with ½ the grated Parmesan cheese.
- Repeat to make a second layer with the remaining ingredients.
- Cover casserole dish with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
- Uncover casserole and top evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Return uncovered casserole dish to the oven and bake for an additonal 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted, bubbly and beginning to brown slightly along the edges.
- Allow casserole to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Optional: turn on broiler and cook for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese. Be sure to keep a close eye on the casserole so that the cheese doesn't burn.
Increase beef broth to 3 cups if not using mushrooms.