Meaty Pasta Bake
When time is short, the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen cooking dinner. Am I right?! When life gets super busy, I like to have meals that I can prepare in advance and pop it in the oven right before dinner.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta noodles 16 oz.
- ¾ - 1 pound Italian sausage casings removed
- 3 - 5 ounces pepperoni slices quartered
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce, or more to taste 24-32 oz.
- 2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded 8 oz.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Cook noodles according to pasta directions and drain. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook and crumble the Italian sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain and return to the pan. Add spaghetti sauce and pepperoni slices. When the pasta has been cooked and drained, add it to the pan with the spaghetti sauce. Mix well. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Top mixture with Mozzarella cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes or until the dish is heated through and the cheese is melted.
Notes
- Sometimes, I also like to add saute’d mushrooms, onions and green pepper – just for the extra nutrition of the veggies and the color.
- If you prefer a more saucy pasta, feel free to add more sauce.
- I used half regular rigatoni noodles and half mezzi rigatoni noodles (shorter rigatoni noodles) – but use whatever you have on hand or whatever your family prefers.
Nutrition
Calories: 516kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 1083mg | Potassium: 549mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 539IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 229mg | Iron: 2mg
