Hello from rainy Houston. It’s Kathy back from Penney Lane. If you haven’t seen it on the news this week, Houston has experienced a devastating flood that they are dubbing the 500 year flood. We have been fortunate that we had no water enter our house unlike so many other Houstonians that have lost homes and cars. My son’s school was damaged so he has been home this week and the street getting out of our neighborhood was deemed impassable. That means I’ve been home with two kiddos all week playing camp director with crafts and activities and doing my best to make meals out of what is in my pantry. I’m going to share one pantry shop recipe that has been a keeper and deemed a winner by the whole family- Easy Pasta Bake.
I found this recipe in Taste of the South Magazine in their Classic Southern Casseroles issue. I changed it up just a little bit and it’s an easy one for you to put your own stamp on as well by changing the protein or adding veggies like onions or mushrooms.
Easy Kid Friendly Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat rotini
- 1 pound Italian sausage crumbles
- 2 14 oz jars of your favorite pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup turkey pepperoni slices
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit
- Spray a 3 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray
- Cook rotini according to instructions until al dente and drain
- Add to casserole dish and set aside
- Brown sausage crumbles and drain
- Add sausage crumbles to casserole dish
- Pour pasta sauce, 1/2 the cheese, and half the pepproni into the casserole dish
- Stir to combine and spread casserole evenly in dish
- Top with remaining pepperoni and cheese
- Bake covered for 40 minutes and finish baking uncovered for 5 minutes
This dish is cheesy and so full of flavor with the pepperoni and Italian sausage, which smells amazing while it’s cooking by the way. The kids love the fun shaped rotini, which holds the tangy pasta sauce. We love Paul Newman’s Sockerooni. It’s a classic for a reason. This is also a yummy dish you can make ahead and it reheats great.
Give this Easy Pasta Bake a try and I think you’ll wind up putting it in your menu planning rotation. Meanwhile, we will be drying out in Houston, doing crafts, shopping our pantry and being grateful for simple comfort food.
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