Rigatoni al forno is our Sunday bake when the family needs feeding and nobody wants to stand at the hob for hours. 30 minutes total, 10 minutes of active work. The Thermomix® makes the bolognese in 15 minutes directly in the mixing bowl, then everything gets layered into a baking dish and goes into the oven at 200°C for 20 minutes. 400 g of rigatoni is enough for 4 generous portions.
Important: cook the pasta only halfway (5 minutes instead of 11), as it finishes cooking in the oven with the sauce. If you stir in fully cooked pasta, you end up with a stodgy texture rather than al dente. This is a trick you won’t find in most standard Cookidoo recipes, where pasta is usually cooked according to the packet.
Rigatoni al Forno with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 16 ✓
- 400 g rigatoni
- 50 g Parmesan
- 50 g mountain cheese (e.g. Bergkäse or Gruyère)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 onion
- 20 g olive oil
- 200 g mixed minced meat
- 60 g tomato purée
- 150 g vegetable stock
- 200 g double cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 150 g cooked ham
- 200 g Mozzarella
- 150 g peas frozen
Instructions 0 / 9
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1
Cook the pasta.
Cook the rigatoni al dente in a large pot of salted water according to the packet instructions.
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2
Grate the cheese.
Meanwhile, place the Parmesan and mountain cheese in pieces in the mixing bowl and grate for 8 seconds / speed 10, then set aside.
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3
Chop the garlic and onion.
Peel the garlic and onion, halve them, place in the mixing bowl and chop for 5 seconds / speed 5, then push down with the spatula.
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4
Sweat.
Add the oil to the mixing bowl and heat for 3 minutes / Varoma / speed 1 without the measuring cup in place.
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5
Cook the meat and tomato purée.
Add the minced meat and tomato purée to the mixing bowl and cook for 5 minutes / Varoma / reverse direction / speed 1.
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6
Simmer.
Add the vegetable stock, double cream, salt, oregano and pepper to the mixing bowl and cook for 15 minutes / 98°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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7
Prepare the remaining ingredients.
Meanwhile, dice the ham, slice the Mozzarella and preheat the oven to 180°C top and bottom heat.
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8
Combine.
Add the ham and peas to the mixing bowl and mix for 2 minutes / 98°C / reverse direction / speed 2.
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9
Bake.
Place the rigatoni in a baking dish, mix with the sauce and half the grated cheese, top with the Mozzarella slices, scatter over the remaining grated cheese and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 15 minutes until golden.
Tip: In Italy this is served with crusty white bread and a good red wine.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why rigatoni and not penne
Rigatoni tubes have a diameter of around 12 mm, noticeably larger than penne (8 mm). During baking, the sauce flows into the tubes and stays there rather than sinking to the bottom. Every bite delivers pasta and sauce together. Penne works too, but gives a drier bake. Spaghetti or tagliatelle are not suitable as they clump together into a solid mass.
Italian home cooks swear by rigatoni rigate (with ridges along the length), not smooth rigatoni. The ridges hold extra sauce. Many recipe sites simply write “pasta”, which is the most common stumbling block for first-time cooks.
The bolognese in the mixing bowl in 15 minutes
Onion, garlic, carrot and celery: chop for 5 seconds at speed 5 (the classic Italian soffritto). Add 2 tbsp olive oil and sweat for 5 minutes at 120°C at speed 1. Then add 500 g mixed minced meat and cook for 8 minutes at 100°C in reverse direction at speed 1. Add 400 g passata, 100 ml red wine, salt, pepper, 1 tsp oregano and 1 tsp sugar (to balance the acidity). Simmer for 5 minutes at 100°C in reverse direction at speed 1. Reverse direction keeps the mince from getting chopped up further.
Layering and baking
Spread a thin layer of bolognese over the base of a baking dish (about 25 x 35 cm), then add the half-cooked rigatoni, followed by the remaining bolognese. Scatter 200 g grated Mozzarella and 50 g Parmesan over the top. Bake for 20 minutes at 200°C top and bottom heat. For extra crispy cheese, switch to the grill function for the last 3 minutes. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving, otherwise the sauce will run out.
Five variations for more variety
Vegetarian (replace the mince with 400 g lentils), with spinach (stir 200 g frozen spinach into the bolognese), carbonara style (replace the bolognese with 200 ml double cream, 2 eggs and 150 g bacon), Greek style (lamb mince, cinnamon and feta on top), spicy (1 tsp chilli flakes and 100 g salami stirred into the sauce).
What goes well with the bake
We like to serve a colourful raw vegetable salad or a lamb’s lettuce alongside. Garlic bread sticks also go down well. For more Italian classics, browse our Italian collection.
Make it creamier with béchamel (optional)
For a juicier, milder bake, add a quick béchamel between the bolognese and the cheese. This is the key difference from recipes that only layer sauce and cheese and often come out dry after baking. For the béchamel: place 500 ml milk, 40 g butter, 40 g flour, a pinch of nutmeg and salt in the clean mixing bowl and cook for 7 minutes at 90°C at speed 4. We spread it as the middle layer over the half-cooked rigatoni, then add the second bolognese layer with Mozzarella and Parmesan on top. The béchamel binds the sauce, keeps the pasta moist and turns the bake into a lasagne hybrid, great for children who prefer a milder flavour.
Goes well with: Parmesan and a glass of red wine.
