One Pan Rigatoni, served with Creamy Red Wine Tomato Sauce

At a glance

What stands out: This pasta recipe is a weeknight dinner dream come true: a complete meal in one pan. This one pan rigatoni is filling, comforting, and full of flavor.

How long it takes: less than a half hour
Equipment you’ll need: large pot with cover or Dutch oven
Servings: 6

One pan pasta, people. This method of cooking pasta is a game changer. We may never go back to the traditional way of cooking pasta in boiling water.

Spaghetti with meat sauce is always a go-to straightforward weeknight meal but it makes so many dishes dirty. One pan for sauce, one big pot for pasta, a colander to drain the pasta, and that’s without any side dishes. The sink is starting to fill up with dirty dishes and all of a sudden your straightforward weeknight meal became kind of a pain in the you-know-what.

Straightforward & Rich Rigatoni

Only one pan! This pasta gets ONE PAN dirty. Only one! Brown the Italian sausage in the pan, add the sauce, and the uncooked pasta. It all cooks in the same pan. It’s straightforward.

Done in 30 minutes. We mean, this recipe is basically a dream come true.

Reliable for weeknight dinners or entertaining. This is a speedy weeknight meal and it also translates smoothly into entertaining. Try serving it with Dutch oven bread and bread dipping oil. A beautiful arugula salad will round out the meal nicely.

What goes in

Italian sausage: We use Italian sausage in this recipe, either pork or turkey. It’s a nice switch up from plain ground beef or turkey because it packs a lot of great flavor into this one pan rigatoni before you even add any other ingredients. We like to use sweet Italian sausage but if your family likes things a little spicier, get the spicy version of Italian sausage. Buy bulk sausage or links, and remove the sausage from the casings.

Onions, bell peppers, oregano and garlic: This array of savory vegetables and herbs adds so much flavor and nutrition.

Canned crushed tomatoes: A big can of crushed tomatoes is the backbone of the sauce. Crushed tomatoes are a better choice for this pasta recipe than diced tomatoes because they have more of saucy consistency. Cooking the rigatoni right in the tomato mixture along with chicken broth gives this pasta dish an extra punch of flavor.

Red wine: We give the sauce an additional layer of flavor with red wine. The flavor of the wine is reliable with the tomatoes, sausage and vegetable. Choose a dry red wine such as cabernet Franc, zinfandel (not white zinfandel!), pinot noir, and so on. Avoid sweet wines.

Cream cheese: Last but not least, stir a few ounces of cream cheese into this pasta right before serving it. We usually use reduced fat cream cheese but you can use regular full-fat cream cheese, if you prefer. This is one of our favorite tricks to enhance a traditional tomato pasta sauce. Adding cream cheese is straightforward to do and it adds richness and creaminess to the pasta.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #91. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

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One Pot Pasta Recipes

• Yield: 6 servings
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 22 minutes
• Total: 27 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 19.5 ounces Italian sausages, casing removed (pork or turkey)
• ¾ cup diced onion ( 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup diced red bell pepper ( 1 bell pepper)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 16 oz. uncooked rigatoni (or another pasta of your choice)
• 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese (or regular cream cheese, if you prefer)
• fresh chopped parsley or basil to garnish, optional

Method

1. In a large, deep pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausage, onion, bell pepper and cook, breaking up sausage, until onions are translucent and sausage is cooked through. Add garlic and cook for one minute or until fragrant.
2. Add crushed tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, and oregano. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to a high simmer (medium/medium-low) and add pasta. Stir to combine and push pasta down into sauce. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, or until pasta is al dente.
4. Reduce heat to low and add cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese is melted and combined. Serve topped with fresh parsley or basil, if desired.