Baked Rigatoni with Meat Sauce and Veggies

If using eggplant, thinly slice eggplant and place slices on a tray then sprinkle with kosher salt. Letting the salt sit for 20 minutes draws out bitterness and moisture. Pat dry, place eggplant slices on a large lightly-oiled baking sheet and brush the eggplant tops with a little extra virgin olive oil. Broil for just about 5 minutes till the eggplant wilts.

Step 2: Cook the pasta

I typically do this right after salting the eggplant. Follow the cooking instructions on the pasta box. Cook just till al dante; it may take 10 to 11 minutes. Drain the pasta but reserve some pasta water to use later in the meat sauce.

Step 3: Prepare the meat sauce

To a deep pot or pan, add a little extra virgin olive oil (by the way, I used Private Reserve EVOO) and finely minced onion. Cook onions for 3 minutes or until they get tender. Add in the minced garlic and cook quickly, stirring constantly so the garlic does not burn. Now, add the meat, spices (paprika, nutmeg, rosemary, black pepper.) Season with a pinch of kosher salt. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and give it all a good mix. Cook until the meat is browned and completely cooked. Add your tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, stir, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 5: Assemble rigatoni casserole.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of casserole dish so it covers the bottom. Layer in ½ the cooked pasta. If adding eggplant or other veggies, lay over the pasta layer. The next layer is ½ of the meat sauce, then the other half of the pasta, then the remaining meat sauce. Top with sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese if you’d like!

Step 6: Bake!

Bake on the middle rack for about 20 to 25 minutes. When it is ready it will look hot, bubbly, and melty. Take out of the oven and garnish the fresh basil leaves if you have on hand. Enjoy!

A few tips

While this is a simple pasta recipe, a few tips make all the difference:

1. Don’t skip salting the eggplant. If you are using eggplant, you don’t want to skip the salting process. This helps the flavor and ensures the eggplant doesn’t release too much water in the baking process. You don’t want bitter and watery eggplant in your pasta casserole.
2. Don’t overcook your pasta. Overcooked pasta will make your casserole mushy and the texture will be too soft. Cook the rigatoni until al dente (this means there is still a little firmness and chewy bite to the pasta,) or even slightly before. Remember, the pasta will go in the oven for a bit still.
3. Adding sauce to the bottom first keeps the pasta from sticking. By adding a spoonful or 2 of the meat sauce to the bottom of the baking dish, it ensures your pasta won’t burn and stick to the bottom.
4. Swap ground beef for ground turkey or chicken. If you don’t eat red meat or want to make this even healthier, opt for lean ground chicken or turkey. Equally as tasty, but with less fat.

Pasta bake make ahead and freezing instructions

Prepare ahead:

Prepare and assemble the entire rigatoni pasta bake all the way up to the baking step. Keep the casserole dish tightly wrapped in plastic wrap overnight in the fridge. You can even keep it unbaked for up to 2 days.

When you are ready to bake, it helps to pull it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Bake as normal for 20 minutes in a 375-degree oven.

How to freeze your baked rigatoni:

1. Assemble the casserole as usual and bake for the allotted time.
2. Take out of the oven and allow the dish to cool completely.
3. Cover tightly and place in the freezer (I like adding several layers to cover a casserole dish.)
4. When you are ready to bake it, you can bake it frozen in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 1 hour.

Important: If your baking dish is not freezer to oven friendly, you have 2 options. Either assemble and bake in a disposable aluminum tray or let your dish thaw for about 1-2 hours before baking it in the oven. Otherwise, you risk your dish shattering in the oven.

What to serve along?

The true beauty of this pasta bake is the fact it’s a complete meal on its own. You really don’t need to add anything else. But pairing with a fresh salad is always a good idea.

Go for a simple Greek salad, chickpea salad, or Mediterranean tomato and cucumber salad.

Craving more pasta? Try this simple Mediterranean olive oil pasta or broccoli pasta with white beans!

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Baked Rigatoni with Tomatoes and Eggplant

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★★★★★

4.9 from 24 reviews

• Author: The Mediterranean Dish
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 12 pieces 1x

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Description

Hands down the best baked rigatoni recipe I’ve tried!  Layers of tender pasta, a Mediterranean spiced meat sauce, eggplant, and fresh tomatoes, all topped with a thin layer of melty fresh mozzarella. A tasty and comforting pasta bake with meat and veggies all-in-one!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant (about 1lb), thinly sliced
• 1 lb Rigatoni pasta (or penne pasta)
• Water
• Salt
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used Private Reserve Greek EVOO)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef OR ground turkey
• 1 tsp Spanish paprika
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp dried Rosemary
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 26 oz canned or boxed crushed tomatoes
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 6 oz fresh mozzarella, more to your liking (optional)
• Handful fresh basil leaves

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Instructions

1. Prepare Eggplant. Place eggplant slices on a large tray. Sprinkle generously with salt and set aside for 20 minutes or so (the eggplant will sweat out any bitterness). Pat dry when ready.
2. Turn your oven on broil. Spray or brush the eggplant generously with extra virgin olive oil. Place on top rack of heated oven to broil for 4-5 minutes or so, watching very carefully. The eggplant should “wilt” and brown. Remove from heat and set aside.  (you will need to switch oven to bake later)
3. Prepare Pasta. Cook pasta in boiling water to al dante according to package instructions. This might take about 11 minutes or so.  I like to add a generous pinch of salt and about 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to the boiling water. When ready, drain, reserving a little bit of the pasta cooking water.
4. Prepare meat sauce. While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large deeper pan like this one . Cook the onions over medium-high heat until translucent, about 3 minutes, tossing regularly. Add garlic and cook for another minute, again tossing regularly.
5. Leaving the heat on medium-high, add meat and spices, salt and black pepper. Using a wooden spoon, break the meat into smaller piece, continue to stir until meat is fully cooked through and has browned. On most stoves, this will take 7 minutes or so.
6. Now add the canned crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer for 15 minutes or so. Carefully taste and adjust salt, if needed add more salt.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and position a rack in the middle.
8. Assemble the rigatoni casserole. Spoon a little bit of the meat sauce to cover the bottom of a large 14 x 10 x 3 deep baking dish like this one. Add about 1/2 of the pasta. Assemble the broiled eggplant on top, then add half the meat sauce. Now add the remaining pasta and top with the remaining meat sauce. Finally, assemble fresh tomatoes and mozzarella slices on the very top.
9. Place on middle rack of heated oven. Bake for 20 minutes or so. If needed, switch to broil and place rigatoni casserole back on top rack briefly. Watch carefully until top of the rigatoni casserole gains some good color (you’re looking for some of the pasta to even crisp up…the tomato and mozzarella may char or brown in some spots).
10. Serve hot with a side of green salad of your choice. You might also like this simple Mediterranean salad, Fattoush or this traditional Greek salad.

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Notes

• Prepare ahead instructions. You can assemble the rigatoni up to step #8 a night or two in advance. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before baking, step #9.
• Freezing instructions: You can fully prepare and bake this casserole. Let cool completely, then cover tightly and freeze. Best to use a freezer-to-oven safe casserole dish so that you can bake it directly from frozen. Otherwise, let it thaw out for a couple of hours before baking.
• Visit our Online Shop  to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils and spices used in this recipe.

• Category: Entree
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keywords: Baked Rigatoni, Italian Pasta, Rigatoni, Tomato Sauce, Tomatoes, Eggplant

* This post first appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2017 and has been updated with new information and media for readers’ benefit. Enjoy!