Bertolli – Oven Baked Four Cheese Rigatoni Rosa

What a week this has been, first I get sent a book to review and now as part of the Tastemaker program at Foodbuzz, I get some pasta sauces to try.  Books and pasta…life is good. 

Now, some of you might be thinking….but, Pam, you are all about cooking from scratch and avoiding processed foods.  Yes.  I do.  One exception I do make is pasta sauce.  I always have a jar or two in my pantry, because sometimes I just don’t have time or the inclination to make my own. 

When I opened up the gorgeous box from Bertolli, inside I found a jar of their Four Cheese Rosa Sauce and their Arrabbiata Sauce.  Easy choice.  Put cheese in the name and I am all over it.  They even supplied a few recipes to chose from to use the sauces…Pink Shrimp with Bacon and Onions, Fontina and Bacon-Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and Oven-Baked Four Cheese Rigatoni Rosa, just to name a few.   I, of course, chose the one with cheese in the name.

Okay, where do I begin…this was fantastic.  Seriously restaurant quality good.  And unbelievably easy.  And I learned a new technique that I am going to apply to other baked pasta dishes…. the idea of tossing the pasta with the sauce and then just mixing in your ricotta mixture.  I always either layer the ricotta mixture (like a lasagna) or stuff it in a shell, I didn’t realize you could just mix it all up and end up with something so fabulous.  So, even though this is made with a jarred sauce and it’s sort of cheating, it gets the coveted Top Recipe label!

Oven-Baked Four Cheese Rigatoni Rosa

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves (I used some of my pureed from the freezer)
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 t. ground black pepper
• 8 ounces rigatoni (or other large tube pasta) cooked and drained
• 1 jar Bertolli Four Cheese Rosa Sauce
• 2 T. Italian Seasoned dry bread crumbs (I just used fresh)
• 2 T. grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, basil, egg and black pepper; set aside.  Toss hot rigatoni with Sauce in large bowl.  Stir in the ricotta mixture.  Turn into 11 x 7 inch baking dish, the sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese.  Bake covered 25 minutes.  Remove cover and bake and additional 5 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown and cheese is melted.  Serves 4.

This will be my entry for this week’s Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Aqua from Served with Love .