The Big Rig(atoni)

Dinner time always seems to be crazy at my house – with bed-times and a newborns’ feeding schedule – it’s hard to know if the timing will be just right for me to start dinner. I LOVE making dinners that can be done ahead of time. That way I can find a chunk of time during my day to get it assembled and then simply turn on the oven in the evening and I have a wonderful homemade dinner waiting for my hubby when he walks in the door.

I don’t know about you, but my husband is always looking for meat at dinner time (I myself could probably be a vegetarian and never miss the meat). It doesn’t matter how great something tastes – he is always looking for the meat. So I came up with this recipe with my husband in mind:

The Big Rig(atoni)
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 lb. hot italian sausage (5 links)
1 teaspoon. chopped garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper, to taste
4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. rigatoni pasta
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:
Fill pot with water and bring to a boil – cook rigatoni according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat a thin layer of olive oil in a skillet. Add hot italian sausage and saute until cooked through. Remove sausage from pan and slice (1/2 inch slices).

Return sliced italian sausage to pan (do NOT remove oil from pan – this gives it tons of flavor). Saute sausage until nicely golden (scrape up all the good bites from the bottom of the pan), add garlic and cook for 3 mins. Then add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs (oregano, thyme, basil), salt and heavy cream – bring to a boil. Allow the sauce to thicken (about 5-8 mins.). Once thickened, toss sauce with cooked pasta and place in a 9×13 glass baking dish (I recommend spraying the baking dish with olive oil spray so pasta does not stick). Top with mozzarella cheese.