This is an easy dish to put together if you have some of my Italian sausage meatballs already made! That recipe makes about 40 meatballs, so I usually use half of them the day I make them and then freeze the rest for another meal.
Serves 8
Ingredients
A half batch of my Italian sausage meatballs
1 (28 oz.) jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1/2 cup water
1 lb. box of rigatoni
kosher salt
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Pour the marinara into a large Dutch oven. Put 1/2 cup of water in the jar, shake it, then add this to the sauce. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Once simmering, add the meatballs to the sauce. Bring it back to a simmer, then cover and cook for 30 minutes, gently stirring it occasionally. You can cook the meatballs directly from frozen.
While the meatballs are cooking, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray, and set it aside. Bring another large pot of salted water to a boil.
Once the water is boiling, add the rigatoni and cook it for half of the time indicated on the box. It will continue cooking in the oven once it's transferred to the sauce.
Remove the meatballs from the sauce and set them aside. Transfer the rigatoni into the pot with the sauce, along with a ladle full of pasta water. Stir, then pour this into the baking dish.
Place the meatballs on top and nestle them down into the pasta. Sprinkle with both cheeses and the parsley.
Bake for 25 minutes. Serve warm.
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