Baked rigatoni timbale with sausage, béchamel sauce and mozzarella
A pasta dish that makes a splash the moment it arrives at the table. With rigatoni arranged vertically, a generous sausage sauce, a creamy béchamel, and melted mozzarella, this timbale has everything it takes to become one of those shareable dishes that always hits the spot.
Ingredients · Servings 4
- 400 g of rigatoni pasta
- 250g of fresh sausage (butifarra type)
- 1/2 small onion
- 125 g of mozzarella cheese
- 400g of crushed tomatoes (or tomato passata)
- 40g of white wine
- Olive oil, as needed
- Parmesan cheese (amount to taste)
- Salt (amount to taste)
- Pepper (amount to taste)
- 400 g of milk
- 30g of butter
- 30g of flour
- Nutmeg (amount to taste)
- Pepper (amount to taste)
- Salt (amount to taste)
Method · 1 h 10 min
- Finely chop the onion and sauté it in a little oil. Remove the sausage casing, crumble the meat, and add it to the pan. Brown it for 6 minutes. Add the white wine and let the alcohol reduce.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the sausage, season lightly with salt and pepper. Mix well to distribute the sauce evenly.
- We cook the sausage ragù over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- We prepare a béchamel sauce that isn't too thick. We heat the milk in a saucepan. In another saucepan, we melt the butter and add the flour. We stir until we obtain a golden mixture, the roux.
- We dilute the roux with a little hot milk while stirring with a whisk. We gradually add the rest of the milk and cook over low heat until we reach the desired consistency.
- We cook the rigatoni in plenty of salted water and drain them when they are still very al dente, about 3-4 minutes before the time indicated on the package.
- We spread four tablespoons of sausage ragu and four tablespoons of béchamel sauce on the bottom of the removable mold.
- Spread the ragù evenly over the bottom and drizzle a little béchamel sauce around the edges. Arrange the rigatoni vertically, starting from the outside of the mold.
- We continue placing the rigatoni vertically until the mold is completely filled, making sure they are close together and compact.
- We spread half of the sausage ragù, half of the mozzarella cut into small pieces, and half of the béchamel sauce on top.
- Add the remaining sausage ragù and spread it with a wooden spoon, making sure it gets well into the gaps in the rigatoni.
- We finish the timbale with the remaining béchamel sauce and mozzarella and sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in a preheated fan oven at 190°C for 25 minutes. Remove the rigatoni timbale from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- We carefully run a knife along the inner edge of the mold, open the removable ring, and carefully unmold the pasta timbale.
- We serve the oven-baked rigatoni timbale still hot, with the filling of melted mozzarella, sausage ragù and creamy béchamel sauce.
