This pasta bake features ground venison paired with rigatoni pasta covered in a delicious and cheesy cream sauce with spinach and sun dried tomatoes. You get the deeply flavored cream sauce and melting mozzarella cheese in every bite.
It is a comforting dish especially in the cold months but works well year-round. While this recipe has a few steps to it, it works great for an indulgent weeknight wild game meal that the whole family will be sure to love.
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce box) rigatoni pasta
1 pound ground venison
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon paprika, divided
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
2.5 cups tightly packed baby spinach, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Parsley, to garnish
Recipe Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni pasta according to package directions for al dente.
- Drain and place the pasta into a greased 9×13” pan.
- In a large skillet, add the ground venison. Cook over medium high heat and crumble until it’s no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Season the venison with onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of the salt, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of the paprika, and red pepper flakes while its cooking. Set the venison into the bowl with the pasta and cheese
- In the same skillet, heat the olive oil. Add in onion and sauté for a 5-6 minutes or until translucent. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add heavy cream, chicken broth, Italian seasoning and the remaining salt and 1 teaspoon paprika. Stir and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach and sun dried tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Top the pasta with mozzarella cheese, sauce from the pan. Top with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 25- 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.
- Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve.


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