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I don’t know about you, but every Friday night in my house growing up, we had either takeout or frozen pizza! Without fail! And at some other point in the week, we’d usually have some form of spaghetti with meat sauce. Both easy classic, right? So why not combine them? That is exactly what I did! This super simple pepperoni pizza pasta bake is a mash up of a simple weeknight pasta and a weekend takeout pizza. Cheesy, meaty, and saucy, the comfort of this meal can be on your plate in less than 30 minutes!
“Pizza” Filling
What makes this easy pasta bake a “pizza” bake is the fact that it is filled with my favorite pizza toppings. So to start, let’s make the pasta. I used one lb of my favorite pasta, cavatappi! But you can definitely use any medium cut pasta like rigatoni or penne. Cook the pasta until just shy of al dente in boiling, salted water. Cook it slightly under because the pasta will continue to cook in the oven, so we don’t want it to be mushy by the end! Drain the pasta and set it aside.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large cast iron pan that you can later transfer to the oven (optional, a regular saute pan works too), brown 1lb of ground beef or Italian sausage. Once the meat is mostly browned, add in one diced medium white onion and a diced red and green bell pepper. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes until the veggies are soft.
Next, stir in 10 oz or so of chopped pepperoni and 24 oz of your favorite tomato pasta sauce for 1 minute. Mix in the tomato sauce and cooked pasta and stir to combine. Feel free to make this your own personal favorite pizza by adding whatever “toppings” you’d like. Throw in some mushrooms, black olives, diced ham, whatever you’d like!
Pasta Bake
The pasta is delicious as in at this point, but if you really want to mimic pizza, there are a few more steps! I mentioned before using a large cast iron skillet to bake in. If you don’t have an oven safe large skillet, transfer all of the pasta to a greased casserole dish. Next, whether using the skillet or a casserole dish, simply top the pasta with about 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and a few whole slices of pepperoni
Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling, and the pepperoni starts to curl up! Remove the pizza pasta bake from oven and top with fresh basil. Serve this immediately with a side of garlic bread and a fresh salad! Your weeknight and weekend meals will officially collide with this simple 30 minute dinner!
Want More Simple Dinner Ideas?
- Parmesan Spinach Orzo With Chicken Meatballs
- Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos
- Grilled Salmon With Avocado Corn Salsa
- Buffalo Chicken Burger
- Gorgonzola Steak Mac And Cheese
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Pizza Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb cavatappi or medium cut pasta
- 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
- 10 oz pepperoni quartered. Keep some whole for topping
- 24 oz tomato sauce
- 2 cups fresh mozzarella shredded
- 7-10 basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°
- In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside
- While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef/sausage in a saute pan. Once the meat is mostly browned, add in onions and peppers. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes until the veggies are soft.
- Stir in chopped pepperoni and sauce for 1 minute. Mix in the tomato sauce and cooked pasta and stir to combine
- If baking in another dish, transfer to a greased casserole dish. If not, either way, simply top the pasta with shredded cheese and leftover pepperoni.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Remove from oven and top with fresh basil. Serve immediately.
