Baked Rigatoni w/Italian Sausage, Summer Tomatoes, & Eggplant..plus, Juicy Peaches w/Amaretto Toffee

ricotta cheese

🥗Healthier: cottage cheese

💰Cheaper: cream cheese

Cottage cheese is lower in fat and calories while maintaining creaminess.

Italian sausage

🥗Healthier: turkey sausage

💰Cheaper: ground beef

Turkey sausage is leaner, while ground beef is often less expensive.

mozzarella cheese

🥗Healthier: part-skim mozzarella

💰Cheaper: provolone cheese

Part-skim mozzarella has fewer calories, while provolone can be less costly.

parmesan cheese

🥗Healthier: nutritional yeast

💰Cheaper: grated pecorino

Nutritional yeast is a dairy-free option, while pecorino is often cheaper than parmesan.

Prepare a big pot of salted water for cooking the rigatoni.

Add 1 pound of rigatoni to the boiling water and cook for about 7 minutes, as it will be baked again later.

While the pasta cooks, place 10 roma tomatoes in a food processor and blend until smooth to create a tomato puree.

Once the pasta is cooked, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the rest.

Return the rigatoni to the pot and let it rest.

Chop 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, and 1 medium eggplant into small pieces.

Cut the 5 links of spicy Italian sausage into large chunks.

In a separate pan, pan-fry the sausage until browned and cooked through, then remove from the pan.

In the same pan, add the chopped eggplant and cook until caramelized, soaking up the sausage flavor.

Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan, allowing them to steam and deglaze the pan with their moisture.

Once the onions are soft and caramelized, add the tomato puree to the pan and stir.

Drizzle in some olive oil and tear in fresh basil, then simmer the sauce until it thickens, about 10-12 minutes.

Fold the thickened sauce into the rigatoni, adding the reserved pasta water and parmesan cheese to bind it together.

Top the rigatoni with more parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Halve the cherry tomatoes and use them as a garnish on top of the rigatoni.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens