A super satisfying baked pasta full of delicious mushrooms and Market made Italian sausage. We upped the ante by adding pancetta, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, ricotta and pecorino, all baked in a San Marzano tomato sauce, then finished with fresh greens. Have a nice bottle of wine and fresh bread at the ready because when this comes out of the oven everyone will be running to the table.
Serves: 6-8
Difficulty: moderate
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients
Sauce
- 3 oz (1c) pecorino or Parmesan, grated
- 8 oz (1.5c) fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly and torn
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 oz pancetta, diced
- 3 oz prosciutto, cut in thin slivers
- 10 oz assorted mushrooms (shimeji or enoki mushrooms, oyster and Shiitake) sliced ¼ in.
- 1 T garlic, minced
- 48 oz canned San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 t salt
- ½ t pepper
- 1 c whole milk ricotta
- 1 lb rigatoni
- 3 oz arugula
- Balsamic glaze or reduction (optional)
Steps
- Boil rigatoni in salted water until al dente. Drain and reserve 1 cup of pasta water; set aside. Heat a large braiser or oven-proof sauté pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, sausage, pancetta and prosciutto and cook, stirring to break up and brown the meat.
- Add firm mushrooms (reserve enoki/shimeji for the last step) and garlic and cook until mushrooms are tender. Stir in tomatoes and salt and pepper, breaking large pieces into bite size chunks. Add pasta to the pan, sprinkle with ½ cup pecorino and toss well to coat. Add reserved pasta water to thin the sauce as needed.
- Tuck ricotta in among the noodles, top with mozzarella and remaining pecorino. Can be prepared ahead to this point, simply transfer to an oven-proof casserole and refrigerate if making ahead. If not, place pasta in a preheated oven (next step).
- To cook: Preheat the oven to 350F and bake 20-30 min. until lightly browned and bubbly— if prepared ahead of time, cover the casserole with parchment paper and foil and bake 45 min, then uncover and cook an additional 15 min. until 165F. Pull from the oven and top with fresh arugula and drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar if desired.
