Baked Rigatoni

This Italian dish I had a school a few weeks ago. Parents made lunch for us the week of teacher appreciation. I enjoyed this so much, I asked for the recipe. It was a nice Sunday night dinner. I actually made the full batch and froze half of it. Love when I can do this!!!


Ingredients:
1 lb Mezzi Rigatoni
1 lb Italian mild sausage meat **packaged without casing**
1 lb pasta sauce (I used Ragu Traditional)
1/2 lb fresh Ricotta cheese (in the deli)
2 c Italian Style Four-Cheese Shredded
1 TBSP salt
1/2 tsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Boil past and add salt and olive oil while boiling (cook until fork tender).
2. Take a pinch of sausage meat and roll it in your palm until you make a small round shape.
3. Repeat until entire package is used.
4. Place on a skillet and cook on medium high. Stir and rotate until browned.
5. Drain pasta and put into a baking dish or pan. (I did 2 small dishes)
6. Place sausage with grease on top of pasta; toss lightly.
7. Add Ricotta in a random manner.
8. Add pasta over entire dish.
9. Lift pasta gently to allow sauce to seep through.
10. Spread Italian cheese over dish. (If freezing, skip this part until you are ready to bake and put in oven).
11. Bake entire dish until cheese is nicely melted.
12. Bake at 295 degrees for 20-40 minutes. I had made my dish in advance and had it from the fridge. It took about 40 minutes to warm. If freeze, thaw dish over night.

Recipe courtesy of Jana Vena