Two-Pepper Rigatoni and Cheese

11 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
Total Time
40 Mins
Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
By Donna and Jeff Towle, Kingwood, Texas
December 2009
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Ingredients

  • 5 cups uncooked rigatoni (16 ounces uncooked pasta)
  • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups fat-free milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped pickled jalapeño pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • Cooking spray
  • 2 (1-ounce) slices white bread

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 408
  • Fat 12.8g
  • Satfat 7.8g
  • Monofat 3.3g
  • Polyfat 0.6g
  • Protein 19.2g
  • Carbohydrate 54.5g
  • Fiber 2.4g
  • Cholesterol 40mg
  • Iron 2.5mg
  • Sodium 550mg
  • Calcium 293mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°.

Step 2

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well; place in a large bowl.

Step 3

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add to pasta.

Step 4

Add flour to pan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, stirring until cheeses melt and mixture is smooth. Stir in jalapeño and salt. Add cheese mixture to pasta, tossing well to coat. Stir in green onions. Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Step 5

Place bread slices in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure about 1 cup. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Combine butter and breadcrumbs in a small bowl; toss until blended. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned.

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Ratings & Reviews

sukeedog's Review

AmyDTT
September 01, 2013
N/A

KCSeattle's Review

MaggieC123
August 06, 2013
This was delicious and easy. Will make again!

EllenDeller's Review

Jbuntin42
November 04, 2012
This is a very, very good mac and cheese, and it made a lot! I used about 3/4 whole wheat rigatoni and 1/4 regular ziti and a grated Italian cheese blend in place of fontina. That gave some color and size variety that was pleasant. I also made about 1/4 of the peppers jalapeno, added some garlic, and used panko on top. And I prefer half as much cornstarch for thickening instead of flour. Easy to mix up ahead of time, then bake right before eating. I'm sure this would also halve easily or double. UPDATE: made this again tonight with tri-color ziti, both orange and red bell peppers (with about 1/4 cup fresh jalapenos), and added lemon pepper to the bread crumbs: even better, with the tomato and spinach-colored pastas adding a great visual appeal.

Jbuntin42's Review

texeverlasting
January 29, 2012
Loved it! Added some low fat chicken sausage for some protein, Sunday Dinner was a hit!

MaggieC123's Review

pyflynn73
October 03, 2011
N/A

sedutta's Review

sukeedog
April 27, 2010
This was a great recipe. My husband actually made it (I was running late), so that's proof that it's easy and quick. He followed the recipe but added a yellow pepper to the dish. He just used a mix of cheeses we had on hand- cheddar, parmesan, and colby. The jalapeno added a great kick to it.

Jocilyn's Review

fairydragonstar
January 10, 2010
It was a bit time consuming to make and I wish the cheese sauce was a bit thicker, but overall not to bad.

fairydragonstar's Review

KCSeattle
January 05, 2010
This is so yummy I made as stated and this will be part of our regular line up.....DH even had 2nds and said it was the best he had eaten

AmyDTT's Review

sedutta
December 30, 2009
I felt this was a good basic low fat pasta recipe. The jalapeno pepper added what I felt was a much needed heat to the dish to give it some pizzaz. I made the recipe as is; however, I took another reviewers suggestion to saute' the green onion as well. Maybe if I left them raw before baking, they would have added a bit more bite to the dish. While good, I'm not sure I would crave this enough to make again.

pyflynn73's Review

Jocilyn
December 13, 2009
Made this for this year's Progressive Dinner. Everyone enjoyed it. I made a few slight changes...instead of the Fontina Cheese I used the Shredded Mexican Cheese; I used a whole red bell pepper; 1/4 of a jalapeno pepper as this was my first time cooking with one; and cornbread stuffing (in the bag) instead of the white bread crumbles.