Easy Pizza Pasta Bake

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Best Pepperoni Pasta BakeMy family wants this Easy Pizza Pasta Bake in our regular meal rotation and I like to include it because it’s so simple.

The flavors come together in a really complex way to showcase this dish that is not just ‘a casserole’ but a WOW, what’s in that AMAZING pasta!?!

It’s a family friendly meal that’s a perfect choice to take to a friend or neighbor in need.  You can read more about that  in What You Need To Know About Taking In A Meal They Will Want To Eat

I hope you make this Easy Pizza Pasta Bake tonight and let us know how you enjoyed it.

 

Easy Pizza Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

16 oz. Rotini pasta cooked (I really like Barilla pasta)

2 Tbl.  oil of your choice; choose one that has a very mild flavor, or no taste at all

2 – 23.9 oz. jars of your favorite pasta sauce  – I used Prego Italian Sausage & Garlic for this recipe

1/2 cup water – divided between the two bottles to rinse the rest of the sauce out of the bottle

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

3 teaspoons oregano,  leaf (not ground)

6 oz. can whole olives, sliced (hold out 1/8 cup for the top)

3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese (divided)

4-6 oz. pepperoni, quartered (except hold out approximately 20 whole pepperoni for the top)

1/2 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Coat your 9″ x 13″ baking dish with spray release.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil; following instruction on the package,Cook the pasta to al dent. Meaning it still has a little ‘bite’ to it, and is not mushy or cooked quite all the way through.

When the pasta is cooked to al dente, drain in a colander, rinse and pour the 2 Tablespoons oil of your choice over pasta, gently mix it over all of the pasta with your hand or a spatula to coat it all evenly.  Allow the coated pasta to sit in the colander while you prepare the sauce.

Rinse out the pan and put it back on the stove.

Into the pan, pour in:

2 jars of pasta sauce

In each bottle of pasta sauce pour 1/4 cup of water and shake well to get all of the pasta sauce rinsed out. Pour this into the pan with the pasta sauce.

Add in the balsamic vinegar, Oregano, sliced olives (reserving about 1/8 cup for the top), fresh Parmesan cheese, TWO cups of the mozzarella cheese, and the quartered pepperoni (holding out approximately 20 whole pepperoni for the top)

Bring to a simmer and cook on low for 2 minutes.

Add in the pasta and stir GENTLY.

 

Pour this mixture into your prepared baking pan.

Top with the rest of Mozzerella cheese – 1 cup. 

 

The reserved whole pepperoni and the 1/4 cup sliced olives.

 

Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly all through.

Best Pepperoni Pasta Bake

Serve hot.

Best Pepperoni Pasta Bake

Carrie Groneman’s recipe

Copyright Carrie Groneman, A Mother’s Shadow, 2019

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