Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Roasted Vegetables

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare veggies (except garlic) by cutting into 1-inch cubes. Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and Italian herbs and toss to coat all veggies. Roast vegetables until tender (about 15 minutes). Remove from oven, add minced garlic clove and toss veggies. Set aside. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees once veggies are done.

While veggies roast, cook the Italian sausage in a skillet. I brown the links on all sides, remove them and slice them into bite-size pieces and then put them back into the skillet to finish cooking. It shortens the cook time a bit.

Also while veggies roast, boil pasta in a large pot of salted water for about 8 minutes, until almost done. Don’t fully cook the pasta because it will finish while the dish is baking later, and you don’t want soggy, mushy pasta. Drain pasta and return to the large pot. Add sausage, roasted veggies, marinara sauce, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Gently mix until everything is combined. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.

Pour mixture into a baking dish (9×13). Top with the rest of the cheeses. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and pasta is warmed through. Enjoy!