Pizza Pasta Bake

Oh my goodness!  It seems everyone has a recipe for "Pizzaghetti" or other Pizza Spaghetti Bakes. I decided to make this with Ziti or Rigatoni pasta, leftover pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, 5 cheese Italian blend and pepperoni slices.

It is amazingly good! Full of ooey-gooey cheesy goodness and lots of flavor. Easy to put together and even easier to eat! Yummmm!!

• You can use any pasta you like but I find ziti or rigatoni work best
• You can use your favorite jarred marinara sauce  
• You can absolutely add mushrooms, black olives, or Italian sausage
• Five Cheese Italian Blend adds a nice kick as opposed to just using mozzarella
• You can use Six Cheese Italian Blend if preferred
• You can make this in 2 smaller pans, one for now, and one for the freezer

RECIPE
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef*

2 cups Ziti or Rigatoni noodles, cooked al dente (just barely done)
2 cups easy pasta sauce 
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups 5-cheese Italian blend, shredded
1 pkg. pepperoni slices (about 32 slices)
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Method
Preheat oven to 350. *Cook ground beef until browned if using store-bought marinara sauce and add it to the sauce. If making easy pasta sauce above, the ground beef is included in the recipe. 

Spray a 13 x 9-inch casserole pan with cooking spray (or lightly grease).

Spread 1 cup of pasta sauce over the bottom of pan, top with 1/2 of the cooked noodles, top that with 1 cup each of the cheeses and 16 slices pepperoni; repeat layers one more time. Dust top of pizza pasta with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.

Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before cutting. Serve immediately.

Serves:  4-6

Also seen on Meal Plan Monday

Enjoy,
Mary

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