Doin' Some Cookin'... Pizza Casserole

My company was hosting their annual potluck of "homemade" dishes only this year.

Ugh! I don't mind picking something up from the store but cooking for the entire office. Hmm...

I get cooking anxiety when cooking for people for the first time. Hell, I have a hard enough time cooking for my biggest critic, Little Man. So I end up doing a run through of the recipe ahead of time to make sure it turns out okay.

The potluck was today and I made this recipe on Tuesday, however, while it was absolutely delicious it was incredibly heavy and didn't settle well on my stomach. I couldn't risk serving this gut bomb to my coworkers so I ended up opting out of the potluck.

Little Man loved everything about this dish and polished off his bowl of pasta for the two nights of leftovers. That is a win for me! He exclaimed, "It tastes like Papa Johns but with pasta!"

This was an incredibly easy dish to make on a busy work night and came together fairly quickly. You can customize the toppings to include your family's favorite pizza flavors. I'm thinking next time ham, pineapple, and red onions for a Hawaiian version. Yum.

Pizza Casserole

Adapted From: Taste of Home

Makes 12-14 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 package (16 oz) of rigatoni
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package of hot Italian sausage
• 1 package (8 oz) pepperoni, sliced
• shredded mozzarella cheese or pizza blend, to taste
• 2 cans (15 oz) pizza sauce
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup

And Action:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. While the pasta cooks, brown the beef and Italian sausage. Drain the fat. 

Add the pasta to the meat mixture, add cheese, pizza sauce, mushroom soup, and pepperoni. Stir to combine. Heat over medium until sauce is heated through and cheese is melted. Enjoy!