Baked Rigatoni Pie

This is an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe. The second I saw it on Pinterest, I knew I needed to make it. It takes a little time to put it all together, but it's worth it. A great twist for your boring pasta dinner!


Baked Rigatoni Pie

1 pound rigatoni
1TBSP olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey6 C of your favorite pasta sauce
Butter, for pan
Salt
1 cup  Parmesan cheese

5 pieces of string cheese
8 ounces shredded mozzarella

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until aldente. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Brown ground beef. Add pasta sauce. Simmer about 20 minutes.

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

Slice mozzarella cheese in thirds and quarter.

Place each piece of cheese into rigatoni. There will be more rigatoni than cheese, so just go sporadically place the cheese in the pasta so that when served, every piece will have cheese in it.

Ladle the sauce onto the pie. Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up. 

Place in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10  minutes until cheese is golden. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold. 

Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.

Please leave me a comment...I'd love to hear what you think!