Sausage rigatoni pasta bake recipe

This sausage rigatoni pasta bake is quick and easy (opens in new tab) to prep. Then, you can just pop it in the oven to cook for 40 minutes while you go and do something else.

You don't need loads of complicated ingredients to make this dish. Just a pack of sausages, a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes, some rigatoni pasta and a few other store cupboard ingredients. Once combined together these supermarket buys will make this delicious sausage rigatoni pasta bake for everyone to enjoy.

Rigatoni is an Italian (opens in new tab) pasta that is tube-shaped but much bigger than penne. The large tubes allow the delicious tomato sauce (opens in new tab) to bake into the pasta for more flavour in every bite.

We recommend serving this pasta bake (opens in new tab) with a crisp green salad, garlic bread (opens in new tab) or a crusty cob loaf (opens in new tab). This is a great for an Al Fresco meal in the summer (opens in new tab) or as a filling and comforting meal for a Winter evening.

Ingredients

• 2 – 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 pork or beef sausages
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 small hot red chilli, deseeded and chopped ( optional)
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 50ml red wine
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp tomato purée
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 250g Rigatoni pasta
• 50g Mozzarella cheese, grated
• 50g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200⁰C/400⁰F/Fan 180⁰C/Gas Mark 6. Heat the oil in a large frying or sauté pan. Add the sausages and fry over a moderate heat for 4 – 5 minutes until lightly browned. Lift out and drain and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
2. Add the onion, pepper, garlic and chilli and fry for 5 minutes until softened but not browned.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and their juice, red wine, sugar, oregano and tomato purée and stir together well. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 – 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
4. Cut the sausages into thick slices and place in an ovenproof dish measuring 38cm x 23cm.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan with plenty of salted boiling water for 10 – 15 minutes until tender but still “Al Dente”.
6. Drain the pasta and then add it to the tomato sauce. Stir the sauce into the pasta until well combined then add it all to the sausages in the dish , mixing everything together evenly.
7. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle over the pasta. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the cheese is golden brown. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.