Baked Rigatoni Alfredo with Pesto Meatballs
There is just something about a creamy pasta dish that can’t be beat but “alfredo” or cream sauce recipes can typically feel extremely dense and heavy. An ingredient that I LOVE to use as a cream substitute is full fat coconut milk. While it is still high in fat, this is a dairy free option that does still have less fat per serving than heavy cream as well as zero cholesterol. Don’t get me wrong, we are still eating a cheesy baked pasta dish, but it does feel like a small win to be “healthier” where you can.
When I made this dish, it was a weeknight and I wanted something yummy in a pinch. This means I used frozen, all beef meatballs along with store bought pesto. I will share both a meatball and pesto recipe eventually but in the meantime, feel free to use your own recipes for those or use store bought as well! Sometimes we just don’t have the capacity to have EVERYTHING homemade, ya know ;)
The ingredients for this are pretty simple, pantry staples which is what made it really nice to quickly put together on a night where I had no dinner plans. Here is everything you will need to make this dish:
5 cloves garlic, minced
1lb Mezzi Rigatoni pasta
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 13.5oz can full fat Coconut Milk - I like to use Thai Kitchen Organic
1 1/2-2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
15-20 meatballs - I used Homestyle Beef Meatballs (if you plan to make your own, make sure to make the meatballs small so they fit amongst the rigatoni)
Roughly 6oz Pesto - I used a full jar of Rao's Basil Pesto which was 6.7oz. You will want a similar quantity if making homemade pesto
Chili flake to garnish if you like spice
Below are the steps to make this dish and keep in mind it will also be getting baked in the oven so at first it may look like there is too much sauce. The noodles (which should be cooked very al dente) will finish cooking as it bakes and soak in a fair amount of your sauce.
Pre-heat oven to 375.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and add in minced garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
Add in the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Allow the spices to toast, for about 2 minutes.
Add in the entire can of Coconut Milk, simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. If it looks like the milk is starting to bubble, turn heat to medium-low.
Gradually add in the Parmesan cheese, in 1/2 cup increments to prevent clumping. Stir and repeat until almost all the cheese is added. (save about 1/4 cup to top with at the end)
Simmer gently for 10 minutes for everything to fully combine, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking/burning.
Meanwhile, cook your pasta in heavily salted water. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than the box instructs. Once cooked, drain and add to an oiled, 9x9 baking dish.
Reuse your pasta cooking pot to gently heat the meatballs and pesto together. If using frozen meatballs, heat for roughly 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are still cool, but no longer frozen. They will finish heating through in the oven so don’t fret if they are cool to the touch at this point.
Add your cream sauce to the baking dish along with the meatballs and any leftover pesto. Cover the baking dish with foil and pop into the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove the foil, top with additional Parmesan cheese and put back in for another 5 minutes.
Remove and top with a pinch of chili flake.
This is a wonderful weeknight dinner if you are like me, and most of these ingredients are pantry staples anyway. Not to mention, this would be a nice dish to make for guests because you could do everything in advance up to when it goes into the oven, then just pop it in to bake when you are getting close to dinner time. Let me know if you made your own pesto or meatballs for this and how it turned out, I am sure it will be that much more delicious!
Enjoy!