One Pot Spicy Rigatoni alla Rossa
with Fresh Rigatoni, Mozzarella & Spinach
- Eggs
- Wheat
- Milk
For our chefs' version of rigatoni rosa ("pink" in Italian), you’ll make a quick homemade tomato sauce swirled with cream cheese and seasoned with chili flakes (for a little heat!). Toss in tender fresh rigatoni pasta that cooks in a flash, then stir in spinach, top with fresh mozzarella, and get ready to blush from all the compliments.
Ingredients
1 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
1 unit
Tomato Paste
5 ounce
Spinach
7 ounce
Fresh Rigatoni Pasta
(Contains: Eggs, Wheat)
4 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
4 ounce
Fresh Mozzarella
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Olive Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Heat a large drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add tomato paste, Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, stock concentrate, and chili flakes to taste (we used ⅛ tsp; ¼ tsp for 4 servings). Cook, stirring, until fragrant and tomato paste darkens in color, 30-60 seconds.
Whisk cream cheese into pot with sauce mixture. Cook, whisking, until melted and combined, 20-30 seconds.
Wash and dry produce.
Stir rigatoni and 2 1/4 cups water (3 1/2 cups water for 4 servings) into pot with sauce mixture; season with salt and pepper. (TIP: Gently separate rigatoni with your hands before adding to pot.) Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
Cook, stirring constantly, until rigatoni is tender and sauce is creamy and thickened, 5-6 minutes. (TIP: Gently scrape rigatoni from bottom of pot if it begins to stick.) Remove from heat.
Add spinach and stir until wilted, 30-60 seconds. TIP: Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to add spinach in batches––stir in a splash of water to help spinach wilt if needed.
Tear mozzarella into bite-size pieces and sprinkle evenly over pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide pasta between shallow bowls or serve family style with any remaining chili flakes on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the dish, but some found it bland; adding extra herbs or spices can boost flavor 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Customers loved the quick, one-pot preparation, making it perfect for busy nights.
- Suggestions: Consider reducing water for a thicker sauce; chop spinach for better texture and integration.
- Portions: Some found it filling with leftovers, while others felt servings were too small for four people.
- Texture: Fresh pasta divided opinions; some loved it, others found it gummy or mushy when cooked.
Reviews from our home cooks
I was initially going to rate this three stars (since 3.5 was not an option) but then I considered that the recipe delivered everything it was supposed to, so why not. Four stars it is - I liked that this was super simple and one-pot, and that (probably since it was a vegetarian recipe) there was a good amount of spinach and also you didn't skimp on the fresh mozz! I did add some fresh cherry tomatoes to mine at the end. Even as a non-spicy sauce (I don't do chili flakes in Italian food) it was pretty darn tasty.
Loved that it didn't take a long time to make and only used one pot. One of the best hellofresh meals i have had in a long time.
Super delicious. Loved the fresh egg noodles. The recipe was simple being in one pot.
Delicious, but I misread the directions and added all the spice instead of 'to taste'! Boy howdy was my mouth on fire but it was so worth it as the flavors in this dish are dynamite ;)
Very very good. Nice use of fresh mozz and pasta. I did add more water to thin out the sauce a little so that it covered more of my pasta and it was about perfect.
The flavor was very good. Thought the fresh pasta would be great, but, even though they were separated before I put them in the sauce, they were flat and a bit chewy. As in the photo here, they look deflated. BUT, there was enough sauce!!! Many of the recipes don't have enough sauce. This one did. Thanks
I love your mozzarella, but I wasn't that big of a fan of the fresh rigatoni... One of the biggest problems is that the instructions told you to add WAY too much water. I only added 1 and a half cups instead of the 2 cups it instructed, and yet it STILL seemed to be too much. I also thought it tasted a little bland.
I like the recipe. The spinach didn't wilt well in the step and I had a huge texture issue with it. It may be better if it is wilted in the pot first and set aside before making the sauce and noodles. Then mix the spinach back in
I accidentally made it too spicy, but it was still pretty good. The cheese kind of clumped together, though, and there was a bit too much spinach.
Sauce ended up being a bit thin due to the amount of water (2 cups). But overall a solid recipe
