Monday, December 15, 2008

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.

8 tellin' me what I want to hear!:

Anonymous said...

That really looks good.

Melisa said...

I'm writing down the ingredients RIGHT NOW! :)

Straight from the pits of Dwell said...

Yum! Looks good. Is that a picture you took of your actual dish? Fancy!

Hey - do you personally know the person whose blog is called Mama's Losin It? I saw the link on your page and have been reading it and she is HILARIOUS! I can so relate to much of what she writes. Anyway, just checking to see if you know her. Have a great week! -jodi

Joy said...

That sounds yummy! And hooray for being a hit with the kids- I can't get Hannah to eat pasta, but maybe this will be the one!!

Jane Anne said...

This looks delicious! I am looking forward to trying it out.

Jessi said...

YUM! I will definitely be trying this one when we get back from Christmas vacation. I'm ALWAYS looking for something that Josiah will/can eat without help.

PS. LOVE the new family pictures. ;-)

Jessi said...

Made this for the family tonight...well, except that I was the only one who ate it (Josiah hasn't been feeling well and therefore, is not eating much and Randy was at the ER). Anyway--It was delish (and pretty easy)! Although, I can definitely say that I've never spent so much time *arranging* pasta before. LOL!

trisha too said...

this sounds YUM!
:)

 
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