I come from a long line of pasta-eating-people, a line that goes all the way back to Roccacinquemiglia, Italy. So when I read about a new way of serving pasta to my paesanos, I had to give it a go. Rigatoni Pie is not like making spaghetti, where you can have steaming hot pasta in a bowl in front of your face in 15 minutes. Nope, this recipe is not for people who weren't born with pasta patience in their DNA.
This is the rigatoni I used, but you can also use large cannelloni. I purchased this at my local Safeway. This recipe has several steps to it, including one pretty time-consuming step that will have you thinking, "Ain't nobody got time for this $%#!" But let me assure you, the end result will be worth it...so gird up your loins and power through!
Making the sauce is easy, especially since I opted to use bottled spaghetti sauce. You can make your own sauce if you want, thus guaranteeing you will do nothing else the day you make this but stand in front of the stove, but I say nothing because that's where I usually stand on a daily basis. Feel free to add whatever you like to your sauce if you want to zip it up a bit. I added onion and garlic to my sauce but you could also add chopped green pepper, sausage instead of hamburger, red pepper flakes, zucchini, etc., or add nothing and just use the sauce from the jar as is.
Cook the pasta according to package directions, just not as long, you want the pasta to be a bit underdone. And you'll know when it's ready if you can squeeze a piece just a bit and it doesn't crack; it will continue cooking in the oven. Make your fingers happy and remember to rinse the pasta in cold water before you try to fill your spring-form pan. (If you don't have a spring-form pan you can use any baking pan that has 3-inch sides.) Usually I don't rinse pasta, but you need to cool the pasta down or you'll burn your fingers and swear a lot.
It's surprisingly easy to line up the rigatoni like little pasta soldiers on their way to the front. You will use all of the pasta. I thought I might have 5 or 6 left in the pan but I managed to squeeze them in.
Now comes the "fun" part...filling the rigatoni. I read a lot of different recipes about how to do this...none of them worked as well as they said. I even loaded up a Zip-lock bag with the meat sauce, snipped off the end and tried to squirt the sauce into the pasta...have you ever tried to hold a plastic bag that is filled with hot meat sauce? Again...burned fingers and a lot of swearing. So, after I regained my composure I dumped about a half a cup of meat sauce at a time onto the pasta shells, then using the wrong end of a spoon, I poked the meat sauce into the pasta. It worked - slowly but surely. "Ain't nobody got time for this $%&!" was muttered once or twice but as it turned out, I did have time...about 15 minutes...maybe more...at some point delirium set in and I lost track of time...
The home stretch - gently pushing a small piece of fresh mozzarella into each shell and then sprinkling the shredded mozzarella on top. Why the two different cheeses? They melt differently - the fresh mozzarella will melt into the shell and the shredded mozzarella will stay on top and kind of "glue" the shells in place. It's a beautiful thing when cheeses work together.
You definitely need to put the spring-form pan on a baking sheet or your oven will make you pay. But don't be an idiot like I was, make sure you line the baking sheet with parchment or foil, then you won't have any messy cleanup at all. After it comes out of the oven and you sing praises to the Roman Gods, you have to wait 15 minutes before you can spring open the pan...and don't forget to run a knife around the edge of the pan before you do that! (If you didn't use a spring-form pan, you still have to wait so the pasta absorbs whatever liquid in the bottom of the pan.)
This is the point where you can pat yourself on the back and take a bow, you did it! Isn't it glorious!?! It tastes every bit as good as it looks, too! This one IS worth the trouble and IS worth the calories!! 5 dangs on the ol' meter, this one is dang, dang, dang, dang, dang good!
Rigatoni Pie - Pots and Pins
You will need a 9-inch spring-form pan or a baking dish with sides at least 3-inches high.
1 lb. large rigatoni pasta
2 jars (24 oz. each) spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 lbs. hamburger
1/2 white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste (plus more salt for cooking pasta
8 oz. fresh mozzarella
1/2 shredded mozzarella
Olive oil
Basil for serving, optional
Cook the pasta according to package directions but cut back the cooking time 2 to 3 minutes so the pasta is just a bit underdone. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over pasta and gently toss to coat, to keep pasta from sticking together.
While pasta is cooking, make the sauce: In large skillet combine hamburger, onion, and garlic and cook until hamburger is browned and cooked throughout, breaking into small pieces as it cooks. Add 1 1/2 jars of the spaghetti sauce (reserving 1/2 jar) and heat over medium low heat until heated through, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
To assemble: Place the spring-form pan on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using your fingers, line the spring-form pan with the rigatoni, standing it up, working from the outside in. You will be able to fill the entire pan, maybe having to squeeze one or two in. Spoon about a half a cup of pasta sauce over the tops of the rigatoni and using the opposite end of the spoon, push the sauce into the pasta. Patience! Continue filling the shells until all are filled. You should be able to see the top of each pasta shell after filling. Cut the fresh mozzarella into small pieces (about 1/2-inch thick by 3/4-inch) and put one piece on top of each pasta shell, gently pushing down. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top of the pie. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Patience! Using a knife, go around the edges of the pan to loosen, then remove the spring-form pan. Slice into wedges and serve. Serves 6. If there is any leftover, reheat in microwave and pour reserved sauce over top.