I had some pizza sauce that I needed to use up, but didn't want to make a dough. I got to thinking about a pizza place in town that serves pasta and pizza, and wondering why it couldn't be combined in one dish. Voila!
This has all of the ingredients of a pizza without the dough. The pasta makes it a main dish twist on pizza that everyone will love. Serve it with a side of Garlic cheese bread.
After I made this, I got on the internet and typed in Pasta Pizza...and don't you know there are many others who tried this too? LOL Here I thought I was being innovative....I guess I was being innovative with my own pantry. :-)
And the cast of characters are....
1 1/2 C. Penne pasta (or rotini)
1 jar Pizza sauce
1 lb. ground beef (or sausage)
2 C. Mozzarella shredded
1/4 C. fresh grated parmesan
1/4 C. or more black olives, sliced (I love black olives, you can use green olives if you prefer)
Fresh Basil leaves chopped
Pepperoni
Salt and Pepper if you like
Note: I already have the ground beef
cooked and have mixed most of the pizza sauce into it.
Get your pasta cooking, just under al dente. It will cook more in the oven.
Brown your ground beef, or sausage and drain it.
Slice up the black olives and chop some basil. You can use whatever kind of herbs you fancy. I have fresh basil on hand, so it's going in. :-)
Mix the pasta into the burger and pizza sauce, then add the herbs and some of the black olives. Toss well to coat all the pasta.
Transfer to a baking dish. I topped it with a little more sauce here and there.
Then place pepperoni all over the top and dot with black olives and some of the grated parmesan cheese.
Now cover the whole thing with the mozzarella cheese, decorate with the pepperoni and a black olive in the middle of each pepperoni slice, if you like. I grated some fresh parmesan over the top of it too.
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
Bake it for about 1/2 hour or until cheese is golden. I tried this at 350 degrees, but the cheese got darker than I like before the pasta was heated through. So, next one will be at 325 degrees.
