baked rigatoni cake

Here is a fun dinner to make. It was a hit with all three kids. Let me say that again, IT WAS A HIT WITH ALL THREE KIDS! Yee-freakin-Haw!

The recipe is from Martha Stewart and it is easy and delicious. I altered it just a bit, mainly to omit some of the grease.

Baked Rigatoni Cake

1 pound rigatoni pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground meat (beef, pork or turkey)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup finely grated parmesan

8 oz shredded mozzarella

*Preheat oven to 400*

*Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt if desired. Add pasta and cook until slightly underdone. Drain. Rinse in cold water, and drain.

*Toss pasta with one tablespoon of olive oil and set aside.

*Brown ground meat in large skillet. Drain. Add minced garlic, one teaspoon salt and some pepper. Cook two minutes more. Add tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes.

*Butter or spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.

*Toss pasta with parmesan cheese. Tightly pack pasta in pan, standing each piece on end.

*Spread meat sauce on top of pasta. I used a blender and pulsed the meat sauce a bit so it would fill up the pasta holes better. Push the sauce down into the holes. Bake 15 minutes.

*Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until cheese is pale golden.

*Remove from oven. Let stand 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Release the spring on the pan. Cut into wedges and serve.

You can also just use 2 cups of the sauce when filling up the pasta holes and serve the remainder sauce with the wedges.