New Recipe: Pizza Casserole

I love a casserole. I am always on the prowl for a new and delicious casserole recipe. Sometimes they make me feel lazy. Even though they're not all as simple as throwing some ingredients into a 9 x 13 pan. This one was pretty easy by casserole standards. And it was tasty. Score! This Pizza Casserole recipe is another that I found on Pinterest. Besides the food blogs that I read, it's really my favorite place to find new recipes.

I sort of forgot to take a picture before we attacked it with the serving spoon.

Pizza Casserole

• 1 bag of Egg Noodles (I think mine was a 16 oz bag)
• 1 extra large can of Ragu sauce (or any tomato sauce you prefer)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or more depending on how much you like cheese!)
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 package pepperoni

Directions:

1. Boil the noodles according to package directions.
2. While the noodles cook, brown the ground beef and drain it.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Now you can start layering your casserole like this: Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish. Then layer half your noodles, then half the meat, then half your sauce. On top of that, layer the rest of your noodles, half of the cheese, the rest of your meat, the rest of your sauce, and then the rest of your cheese. Spread your pepperoni on top of that (However much or little of the package as you want. It depends on your pepperoni preference.)
5. Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: For Mamas

Toddler tested. Toddler approved.

Notes/Suggestions:

• When re-typing the recipe I debated on what to put for the cooking temperature. She has 350 but this casserole is HUGE. I recommend 375 degrees. I did mine at 350 and took it out after about 25 minutes and some of the middle cheese hadn't even melted. So I turned up the oven after that and left the foil off (although the foil is necessary for most of the process). But after that it cooked fine and the pepperoni got nice and crispy :)
• I added black olives to the one of the meat layers because all three of us (yes, Grant included) are black olive fans. Yum!
• I used a little extra cheese. Ok, I used a whole cup of extra cheese. (So that's 4 cups instead of the original 3 cups.)
• Lots of room with this recipe to be creative and make it your own. Anything you like on a pizza could pretty much be added to one of the layers. As long as you have a big enough casserole dish :)
• Great weeknight meal because it doesn't take too much time to get together. It could even be put together the night before if you're feeling ambitious and then just throw it in the oven when you get home.
• HUGE casserole. It makes a ton. So it's great for leftovers or to feed a crowd (hello potluck!).

This one was a big hit with the three of us. Even me and I'm really not a fan of spaghetti/pizza sauce. Grant, who isn't a big meat eater, couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough and never stopped to think about the hamburger meat. I'll definitely be making it again. I'd love to know how it turns out if anyone tries it. Enjoy!