Pepperoni Pizza Casserole

I tried a new recipe tonight.   I recently got my Aug/Sept 2011 issue of  Taste of Home.  In this issue there were some potluck casseroles that all looked really good.   While we are not going to a potluck, I am always up for a new, tasty casserole that my family will eat. It was the pepperoni pizza casserole that caught my eye, but as usual I did not follow the recipe exactly

I often omit and add ingredients, knowing what my children will and will not eat.  For example, the original recipe calls for onion and  can of tomatoes. I only  added a little bit of dried onion to the meat, but not an actual onion.   I also did not add extra tomatoes.    The orginal Taste of Home  recipe is for two casseroles, but since I  did not need that much food, I cut the recipe in half. 

For my version you will need noodles, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, a small  can of mushrooms (optional) and pepperoni.   The original recipe calls for ground turkey, and says you can also use ground beef.   I decided to try sausage, since most of my family  likes sausage on our pizza.   This also worked really well, and gave the casserole a bit of a spicy kick. 

If you want to make 2 casseroles for a pot luck, make the entire bag of noodles, otherwise you only need a half of bag.  I made the whole bag to use half the noodles for another recipe. 

Brown the meat in the skillet, and drain the grease.  If you are making two casseroles use 2 lbs of meat, but for one only use one lb.  This is where you can add 1/3 cup  onion if you prefer.  I just sprinkled on some dried onion that might kids would not notice. 

Add a half of jar of spaghetti sauce for one casserole, the entire jar for two.  Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. If you want to add extra tomatoes, you would add them at this step.

Add the noodles to the sauce and meat mixture in the skillet.

Add the mixture to a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.  I just sprayed with a little bit of cooking spray  first.   This is the step where you add the mushrooms if you like.  I personally love mushrooms, but not everyone in my family does.  I decided to add them and try and hide them in the casserole.  Can you see them?   When it was cooked they did appear and my child who doesnt like them picked them out an gave them to me. 

This is another step I changed from the original recipe.  In that recipe it called for only 2 cups of cheese for 2 entire  casseroles.  One cup of cheese for a pizza casserole is NOT enough.  I added an entire 2 cup bag of mozzarella and then threw on some cheddar for good measure.  In my opinion , you can never have too much cheese!

If you are making the 2 cassesroles, use an entire 3 oz package of pepperoni.  Since I only made one, I used half a package. Bake in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes.  Let it stand for 5 minutes after taking out of the oven. 

This recipe is a keeper.  I did have a request to try regular ground beef next time so it is a little less spicy, but everyone did love this version.