Pasta casserole with minced meat and broccoli

Votes: 1

How to Make - Pasta Casserole with Ground Meat and Broccoli

Time: 50 min.
Complexity: easily
Servings: 6 - 8

This pasta casserole, with its gooey cheese, meat, and golden crust, is a great idea for a hearty breakfast or dinner that everyone will love. To prepare it, you'll need an oven-safe pan, as it's cooked first on the stovetop and then baked. Boiled pasta is mixed with browned ground Italian sausage in a tomato sauce with broccoli, then topped with ricotta and basil and sprinkled with grated mozzarella and Parmesan. Once baked, all the cheeses will melt and meld into one wonderful flavor. Serve immediately.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

Topping

1 cup whole milk ricotta
0.5 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
0.5 tsp coarse salt

Paste

450 g rigatoni pasta
1/4 tsp coarse salt + more to taste
1 tbsp. l. olive oil
450 g raw sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 large or 2 small heads broccoli, cut into small florets
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 can (700 gr.) marinara sauce
1 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan
1.5 tbsp. grated mozzarella

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

We recommend

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Topping:

Place the ricotta, basil, and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a silicone spatula. Set aside.

Paste:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt and cook the rigatoni pasta for 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly, reserving 0.5 cups of the water.
Meanwhile, heat a large Dutch oven or oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and sausage. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up the sausage with the back of a spoon, until browned, about 7 minutes. Add the broccoli and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the pasta to the pan and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Toss thoroughly to coat the pasta with the sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water if needed to thin the sauce slightly.
Spoon the ricotta mixture evenly over the top and top with some of the pasta. Sprinkle with mozzarella and the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.