The Best Rigatoni Recipes

The best rigatoni recipes are terrific to start if you enjoy Italian cuisine. This chunky pasta holds up well in tomato sauces and creamy pasta bakes. Try adding ground sausage, mozzarella, and chopped basil to your favorite ragu. Here are a few of my go-to rigatoni dishes. You can also try various pasta dishes for a quick and easy evening meal.

Rigatoni

Best Rigatoni Recipes

Rigatoni and Cauliflower al Forno

Cauliflower is likely the least appreciated member of the cruciferous vegetable family, owing to childhood memories of it being cooked, flaccid, and sparsely seasoned, if at all. It’s a joy when appropriately prepared. Cauliflower can withstand a lot of seasoning, and garlic, sage, red pepper, and capers are used in this recipe. It’s also browned in olive oil, which adds to the flavor. If you want a great side vegetable, forgo the rigatoni and serve the sautéed cauliflower instead.

Rigatoni with Tomatoes, White Beans, and Zucchini

This recipe was born during the summer, on a week when our CSA veggie box was overflowing. Since we’re dependent on the weather and local seasonality while supporting our local farms, it’s been hit or miss at times, but this one was good. A large bag of the spiciest arugula I’ve ever had, as well as a giant zucchini, accompanied the stone fruit, artichokes, and beets. I mean colossal.

Rigatoni In Vodka Sauce

Hear us out: cream can be combined in minutes to make one of the tastiest homemade pasta sauces you’ve ever had. Make this dish for yourself, if you haven’t already. Use double-concentrated tomato paste, which has more taste than regular tomato paste. All of the products featured on Bon Appétit have been hand-picked by our editors.

Baked Sicilian-Style Rigatoni with Lacinato Kale & Ricotta Salata

Sicilian cuisine combines the flavors of mainland Italy with distinct Ottoman influences to create a delectable dish. Traditional Italian ingredients like Lacinato (or Tuscan) kale, tomatoes, and aromatics are combined with Middle Eastern and North African touches like sliced almonds and golden raisins in our baked rigatoni. For a great textural contrast, we’re serving the meal with Ricotta Salata, an aged, semi-hard form of soft ricotta. It retains its hard firmness even when heated, complementing the soft-baked pasta and tomato sauce well.

Rigatoni with Caramelized Onions

Rigatoni with caramelized onions and gorgonzola is a truly unique and delicious combination. I adore how simple it is to make this tasty pasta. While caramelizing the onions takes some time, it’s essentially hands-off work, and everything comes together quickly in the end. Your onions will caramelize nicely in a cast iron or stainless steel skillet; you won’t obtain the same result in a non-stick skillet. Make careful to save aside some of the pasta water to deglaze the onion pan and create a nearly undetectable sauce that will stick to the spaghetti.

Rigatoni Mug

Rigatoni is a mug that may be customized to suit your preferences. You can make sauces that are spicy, creamy, savory, or sour, or you can add vegetables to your dish. The essential approach is to cook the pasta and then separate it into two bowls—Cook meat or veggies in olive oil in a pan. You can also add ground turkey for a more delicious dish. You can also split the recipe or freeze half of it.

Rigatoni with Broccoli Rabe and Chickpeas

Broccoli Rabe Pasta with a black napkin on a white dish. This spaghetti is significant to me not just because it is tasty (obviously) but also because it is pretty simple to prepare and almost impregnable. This is something your girlfriend could cook even if she doesn’t know how to boil pasta. Oh, no, that didn’t sound right… Anyway, you know how some recipes say you’ll need three ingredients, but you need thirteen. Then it says it’ll be done in 20 minutes, but it’ll take 20 HOURS. This isn’t one of the recipes above.

Ragu Rigatoni

If you don’t have any, you can use ziti or penne instead of rigatoni. Baby spinach can also be included in the mix. In the casserole, the spinach will wilt and integrate into the sauce. Ground turkey can also be used in place of the Italian sausage. Use ground turkey instead of Italian sausage if you don’t have any on hand—season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

What Does Rigatoni Mean In Italian?

Rigatoni is short, wide tubes of pasta with ridges on the exterior but smooth inside, derived from the word “arigato,” which means “ridged.” Rigatoni can also be used in baked pasta dishes because of their ability to hold the cheese. Rigatoni is most commonly linked with southern Italian cuisine. The word rigatoni comes from the Italian word rigatoni (the augmentative is the right one, and the plural is rigatoni), which means “ridged” or “lined” and is associated with southern and central Italian cuisine. In the south of Italy, particularly in Sicily, rigatoni is a popular pasta shape.

Is There A Distinction Between Ziti And Rigatoni?

Rigatoni is slightly shorter and broader than ziti and penne, and depending on the extrusion technique, they can be straight or slightly curled. It’s usually ridged, and the ends are square-cut like ziti Penne and ziti are smaller than rigatoni. It’s a ridged, short, substantial circular pasta, and it has a slight curvature on occasion. In a tomato pesto pasta salad, the ridges in rigatoni are ideal for keeping the sauce.

What Is The Composition Of Rigatoni?

Rigatoni is traditionally made from durum wheat semolina, but manufacturers also offer grains such as whole wheat, Kamut, buckwheat, einkorn, and others. Barilla Rigatoni Pasta is prepared with 100 percent durum wheat and certified “Acqua Del Molise” mountain spring water. Salads and a variety of other foods benefit from this attractively shaped pasta. Enjoy this spaghetti with your favorite sauce, vegetables, chicken, and herbs that pique your interest.

Conclusion

Baked rigatoni is yet another delicious rigatoni recipe. Ground beef or mild Italian sausage is used in this quick and easy supper. Crumble the beef or sausage and toss it with the onions. After that, soften the tomatoes. Mix the spaghetti with the sauce and serve. Freeze one dish and serve the other if there are any leftovers. You’ll be able to eat it whenever you want as a result of this!

If you have any leftover rigatoni after baking it, freeze it, and it will keep for up to three months in the fridge. Before serving, let it thaw overnight. You may also freeze the leftovers and reheat them in the oven or microwave at a later time. You can even make an entire casserole ahead of time and freeze it. It’s a fantastic family lunch. If you’re searching for a creative take on a traditional Italian ragu noodle, try this recipe.