Venison Rigatoni Pie is just one of those dishes you are going to be wondering why you didn’t make your whole life!!
With my venison Italian sausage recipe being such a hit with the family I’ve been trying to make more Italian food. My dad’s even had some cognitive dissonance with the past couple recipes asking if I made this with axis deer because it was so good it couldn’t be whitetail lol! I’ll keep experimenting with the sausage, but again make whatever your heart desires with it.
I’ve made rigatoni pie a couple times before and much to the chagrin of my husband, never for him lol. It’s a tasty dish and the hardest part is probably getting some of the meat into the rigatoni noodles. If you don’t care about that it gets much easier. This is a family pleaser, like I said, and again it’s a great meal for people scared of wild game. The Italian sausage, in my opinion, is better than what you’ll find at the store and who doesn’t like rigatoni?? Throw this bad boy together and it’ll be gone almost immediately. Again let me know in the comments how it goes and ENJOY!!
Venison Rigatoni Pie
Equipment
- Spring Loaded Pan (10")
Ingredients
- 1 lb venison Italian Sausage
- 24 oz rigatoni cooked and drained
- 45 oz pasta sauce your favorite
- 2 tsp+2 T EVOO
- 2 C Italian cheese blend split into halfs
- 2 C Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (or if you are in a time crunch hi broil).
- Add 2 T of EVOO to already cooked pasta to keep it from sticking.
- Heat 2 tsp EVOO over medium high heat.
- Add sausage and cook until browned; break it up into SMALL pieces.
- Drain any extra liquid off of the meat.
- Add ~1/2 of your pasta sauce to the meat. Continue to cut the meat as small as possible.
- Add 1 C Italian cheese blend to the noodles.
- Line the pan with noodles standing straight up. If you tilt the pan to a side it helps the noodles stay in place.
- When your pan is full add the other half of your pasta sauce to the noodles. Try to spoon the sauce so it goes into the rigatoni.
- Ladle your sausage on top and try to get as much as you can into the rigatoni noodles. The sausage should be so small so some of it goes into the noodles but if it sits on top that is ok.
- Place your pie on a cookie sheet for stability and any leaking.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Top with cheese (2 C of Mozzarella and 1 C of Italian cheese blend).
- Bake for another 15 minutes or put on high broil until desired crispiness.
- Let rest for 5 minutes to make it more stable for cutting.
- ENJOY!
