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There comes a time in every home cooks life when you really, really, really have a hankering for pizza. Except dinner is in 30 minutes. And you have no store bought dough. And no time at all to put together a dough, let it rise, etc.
Might I suggest this pizza bake as an alternative?! It’s sure to cure that craving and it can be on the table in 30 minutes or less!
Here’s how it looks. Boil the pasta…10-15 minutes, depending on the kind you use. While the pasta is boil, cut the pepperonis, the peppers and get out the cheeses.
Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to help thin out the pizza sauce. Put the saucepan or Dutch oven back on the burner with the water, pizza sauce, peppers and pepperoni and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Reintroduce the pasta, toss, top with the cheese and then bake for about 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
30 minutes. Done!
Pizza Penne Bake
Ingredients
1 lb. pasta noodles, such as penne, ziti, mostachioli or other “medium” shaped noodle
3/4 cup pizza sauce
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
About 30 pepperonis, cut in half
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
About 1 cup pizza blend shredded cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cook the pasta as directed on the package in an ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven. Save 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid and then drain.
- To the same saucepan or Dutch oven, add the reserved cooking liquid and the pizza sauce and whisk together. Then stir in the chopped peppers and halved pepperonis. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the drained pasta noodles. Toss together.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the pasta and then sprinkle the pizza blend shredded cheese over top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheese begins to melt.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve Pizza Penne Bake and kill that pizza craving!
I make this all the time but instead of the peppers, I put in artichokes! Yummy!
Love the artichoke idea Lindsey!!! Next time I make it…
Erin
I make with it with whole wheat pasta,ham,artichoke hearts,and sliced black olives….. It’s called Four Season’s Pasta Bake(can also be made with white sauce or a I make it a with a White Wine Roasted Garlic Butter Sauce) yummy
Mmmmm…White Wine Roasted Garlic Butter Sauce sounds delish…care to share a recipe?
Recipe that sounds great white wine roasted garlic sauce..:-)
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I made this for dinner last night and it was really yummy! I didn’t have any peppers on hand, so I threw in some chopped spinach from the freezer. The kids loved it! Thanks Erin.
Making this for dinner right now! Boy was it easy to prepare and went by FAST! Thanks for the great recipe!
Kitchen Comments
Just put this in the oven!! The husband had been tekking me how good it smells since I added the peppers to the sauce! Can’t wait to eat it in about ten minutes!
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I love your recipes. I used a little less pasta, about twice as much sauce, and upped the cheese and pepperoni a little, too. I think it gave it more substance. I added garlic powder and pizza seasoning. It’s a really yummy and flavorful dish.
I also used whole wheat noodles and lowfat turkey pepperoni, and if I had used reduced-fat cheese it would have been even better. I always appreciate that your meals are relatively healthy!
I might also use ground turkey sometimes. Definitely adding this to my regular meal rotation!
I LOVE this site!
Thanks Stephanie!
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Love seeing your Penne Bake on Foodiecrush today
Looks delish!
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I have a friend that makes a casserole similar to this but she uses spaghetti for the pasta, it is wonderful.
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This was delicious! My boyfriend and I loved it!
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Could you do everything ahead of time and have this ready to go in the oven at the end of the day? Say when you have an evening of busy practices and need something quick to get on the table when you get home? Sounds great!!
Most definitely! Make ahead pasta is the best thing for situations like that!
Hey Carrie, you could cook the pasta ahead of time and leave it with some of the cooking water in the pot you cooked it in…the pasta could then be tossed with the sauce/”toppings” and topped with cheese, then reheated in the oven.
sounds yummy! Will put on my menu this week!
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This looks great! I plan to make it one day this week.
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what pizza sauce would you recommend?
I’ve been making “Pizza Casserole” for years in almost the same way. I often use plain spaghetti sauce rather than proper pizza sauce. I also add chopped onions to the peppers, and I stir in sliced olives – if I would put it on a pizza it’s fair game to go into the mix.
Any night we’re having pasta, I intentionally cook extra so we can have this a couple of nights later and can skip the noodle cooking step (and add some extra sauce to compensate for drier noodles). I keep prechopped peppers and onions in the freezer, buy my olives presliced so this really only takes the time to open the jar of sauce, shred the cheese and stir. Steamed green beans or a caesar salad go well with this dish. FYI – if you don’t have pepperoni on hand, kolbassa cut in small chunks works just as well.
Smart Jenn…I love it!
Erin
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This sounds great! I’m going to try it with turkey pepperoni to make it a tad more healthy. Can’t wait to try!
I will certainly have this dish on this week’s menu…What a time saver!
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