Pizza Casserole

In the mood for pizza but want something lighter and easy to throw together? Well this recipe was shared with me from one of my son Nicholas' former teachers. Thank you Jode.

This recipe can be thrown together and just warmed in a crockpot on low for two hours or put in a 9 x 13 baking dish and baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. I will say having it sit in the crockpot lets the flavors intensify a bit and really nice for potlucks.

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients-

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground Italian sausage
1 pkg of sliced pepperoni (chopped)
1 pkg of egg noodles ( I use No Yolk noodles extra wide)
2 jars of your favorite pizza sauce
Here is where you can get creative (Whatever you normally like on your pizza you can throw into the mix):
1 small onion (optional)
1 small green bell pepper (optional)
1/4 c chopped fresh mushrooms (optional)

1 sm can of sliced black olives (optional)
1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1/2 T of oregano or Italian seasoning

Directions-

In a large skillet brown ground beef and Italian sausage, drain and set aside.

While the meat is browning, boil water in a dutch oven pan and cook egg noodles for about 7 minutes. Drain the water off noodles.

In the dutch oven pan add the ground meat, pepperoni, Italian seasoning and any other fixins you decided would be good on your "pizza". Mix together but be gentle not to destroy your noodles.

This is where you will decide which vessel to cook your casserole in. Whichever you choose, layer mixture by separating the two layers with 1/2 your mozzarella cheese. End with sprinkling the remainder mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese on top. If you cook in crock pot, cook on low for 2 hours. If you bake in oven in a 9 x 13 baking dish, bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. The cheese on top will have melted and will be a bit brown.

You can serve this with a nice side salad and some garlic bread. Such a nice tasty Italian meal.

Again, thank you Jode for sharing this tasty recipe.

-Michelle