This baked rigatoni is the ultimate pasta dinner! Thick pasta noodles layered with a blend of melted cheeses and tossed with a medley of delicious roasted vegetables.
When it comes to baking pasta, we all know about the famous lasagne. But, let me tell you about baked rigatoni… this specific recipe is layered with cooked noodles, a blend of three melted cheeses, and a medley of roasted vegetables that are coated in rich marinara.
One thing I love about this dish is you can go spicy with the sauce and use a homemade or store-bought arrabbiata, or use a sweet sauce such as marinara. Whichever direction you go with flavor, you will be so satisfied.
You can of course serve noodles as is without baking. But I find the flavors intensify as they bake together, and of course that melted cheese is what it’s all about.
Ingredients Needed
This delicious pasta is filled with a handful of fresh vegetables and some simple pantry ingredients. Here is everything you’ll need to make this dish happen: rigatoni pasta noodles, baby bell peppers, carrots, head of cauliflower, fresh basil, oregano, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, and cheddar cheese.
How to Make Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables
- First, preheat oven to 425F and prep vegetables on a sheet pan for roasting. Drizzle with oil and salt, bake for 20 minutes (flip at 10 minutes), then lower oven temperature to 325F and roast another 10 minutes.
- While vegetables cook, prepare pasta according to box directions.
- Let cooked vegetables slightly cool.
- Remove stems from peppers, then chopped carrots and peppers into small pieces. Cut cauliflower into smaller florets if needed.
- Then in casserole dish/baking dish mix cooked pasta & pasta water with 1-2 cups marinara, half of roasted vegetables, fresh basil, oregano, 1/2 cup gruyere cheese, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
- Then arrange rest of vegetables over top with remaining marinara sauce, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup gruyere cheese, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 20 minutes at 350F. Remove cover and broil on HIGH for last minute to brown cheese.
Extra Cooking Tips for Baked Pasta
Utilize pasta water: One of the simplest ways to elevate your pasta dish is using the humble pasta water! It’s filled with starches from the noodles and salty flavors. Stirring this in with your pasta recipes helps create a sauce, brings even more flavor, and prevents the pasta noodles from drying out or sticking together.
Use Italian noodles: We love using noodles that are made in Italy with durum wheat flour. This will ensure your noodles cook with consistency, have delicious flavor, and the perfect al dente bite!
What does cooking pasta “al dente” mean? Al dente in Italian means “to the tooth” – the texture of the pasta should have a bite to it and not be too soft. Overcooked pasta is a no-no. Perfectly cooked noodles should have a slight firmness when bitten into. That way when they are baked or served with hot sauces, they don’t get soft, mushy, or fall apart.
More vegetables to use: You can use a handful of different vegetables for this dish. My recommendations are roasted broccoli, eggplant (skin on), zucchini, brussels sprouts, and asparagus.
Noodles to substitute instead of rigatoni: you can also swap rigatoni noodles with fusilli, rotini, or penne pasta.
My Favorite Tomato Sauces to Use
Whenever I make super cozy pasta dishes like this, I always want to use a really good quality pasta sauce/marinara. You can either make your own by using San Marzano tomato sauce or this fresh tomato sauce. To make things quick and easy, you can purchase my family’s favorite store-bought marinara!
If you’re feeling like you want a little heat or spiciness, you make serve rhis pasta with my spicy arrabbiata sauce or purchase my favorite store-bought arrabbiata.
How to Freeze & Keep Leftovers Fresh
- Keep leftovers fresh: store noodles and roasted vegetables in airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3-5 days.
- How to freeze: assemble dish with roasted vegetables, top with cheese and leave unbaked. Cool to room temperature then wrap in plastic wrap and cover in foil, freeze for 1-2 months. Thaw at room temperature and bake as instructed.
More Pasta Recipes to Try
- Easy Baked Ziti
- The Best Vegetable Lasagna (no ricotta)
- Fusilli Pasta with Sausage Ragu
- Lentil Bolognese with Pappardelle Pasta
Three Cheese Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry rigatoni noodles
- 3-4 cups marinara sauce
- 1-2 Tablespoons oil
- 1 lb bag baby bell peppers
- 1 cauliflower head
- 4-5 carrots
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 teaspoon oregano (dried or fresh)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (divided)
- 1 cup gruyere cheese, grated (divided)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- salt & black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Prep the vegetables: cut cauliflower into floret pieces. Remove stem from carrots, then cut into sticks by slicing lengthwise into fourths. Leave baby bell peppers whole (with stems).
- Roast vegetables: arrange veggies on a sheet pan and drizzle with oil. Toss and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes (flip halfway through), then lower oven temperature to 325F and roast for additional 10 minutes.
- Chop vegetables: remove cooked vegetables and let slightly cool. Carefully remove stems from peppers. Chop peppers and carrots into diced pieces. Cut cauliflower if pieces are too big but leave as florets. Note: the roasted baby peppers will be super soft, so you can easily remove the stems by gently pulling them out.
- Cook pasta noodles: while vegetables are roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season pasta water with a generous amount of salt (about 1-2 Tablespoons). Cook pasta as box instructs for noodles to be al dente in texture. When straining pasta noodles, reserve 1/3 cup pasta water. Note: "Al dente" in Italian means "to the tooth" – the texture of the pasta should have a bite to it and not be too soft.
- Mix ingredients with pasta: in pot with noodles and pasta water, add 1-2 cups of marinara. Fold in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup gruyere cheese, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Then mix in half of roasted vegetables, chopped fresh basil, and oregano.
- Arrange in baking dish: Add pasta and ingredients into a large casserole dish or baking dish. Layer with remaining roasted vegetables and 1-2 more cups of marinara, then sprinkle remaining cheddar, gruyere, and parmesan cheese over top.
- Bake: Cover with foil or lid and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Broil on HIGH for last minute to brown the cheese. Serve with fresh basil and enjoy!
Notes
- Keep leftovers fresh: store noodles and roasted vegetables in airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3-5 days.
- How to freeze: assemble dish with roasted vegetables, top with cheese and leave unbaked. Cool to room temperature then wrap in plastic wrap and cover in foil, freeze for 1-2 months. Thaw at room temperature and bake as instructed.
My Indian husband made this dish for me for Valentines Day. I’m Polish so Italian kitchen would be something different for me. It tasted wonderful. We sometimes eat vegetarian dishes and this is one of the vegetarian dishes that tastes great. We will make it again!
Can you make/assemble this ahead of time? What’s your recommendation
Hi Lizzie! Yes, you can make it ahead of time. I recommend assembling the whole dish, letting it cool then covering it, and refrigerating. When you’re ready to bake it, then add the cheese. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
I made this today and added ground turkey. Didn’t have fresh basil but used dried Italian herbs with a basil marinara and it had great flavor. I almost added more cheese, but I didn’t need to!! It’s amazing!!
So happy it worked out! Thank you for sharing, Shanna!
I made this recipe for my friends and it was very delicious! I doubled the recipe and it came out perfect!
So happy to hear it! thank you, Albertina 🙂