My kids all have very different taste buds so most dinners range from a solo whine to a full out chorus of complaints.
When I cook something that all 4 will happily eat, bells and whistles sound and fireworks go off. This meal is one of those rare moments.
Since it is a family favorite in our house, I thought I’d share it with you!
We actually refer to it as Panther Pizza Pasta because it is my go-to dish for the high school football team pasta dinners. I triple the recipe but always bring home an empty dish!
The beauty of this recipe is that you get the entire food pyramid in one dish! Plenty of protein from the sausages, beef and pepperoni, bell peppers give you your veggie serving, pasta for grains, dairy is taken care of by the mozzarella and the tomato satisfies the fruit group. Yes, a tomato is botanically a fruit regardless of what the supreme court ruled way back when! 😉 Mushrooms are really none of the above, but they are still good for you.
This is one of those recipes that I usually don’t measure ingredients but I did this time…just for you! You can use different “toppings” every time you make it – it will seem like a different dish and you’ll never get tired of it!
- 16 ounces Rigatoni
- 36-48 ounces Spaghetti Sauce*
- 3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
- ½ pound Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage
- ½ pound Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
- ½ pound Ground Beef
- ½ pound Pepperoni Stick
- 2-3 Bell Peppers
- 1 pound Mushrooms
- Other pizza "toppings"
- 1 Additional cup of Mozzarella Cheese, if desired.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook pasta per directions for al dente.
- Dice Peppers and Mushrooms.
- Cut half of Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni into small chunks.
- Cook Hot Sausage and Ground Beef in a skillet on medium-high until brown.
- Add chunks of Pepperoni and Smoked Sausage and add Peppers and Mushrooms.
- Cook until Peppers are soft.
- Drain.
- In a large pot, combine the Rigatoni, Spaghetti Sauce*, Meat/Veggie mixture and 3 cups of Mozzarella Cheese.
- Cut other half of Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni into slices.
- Put in large casserole dish and top with Mozzarella Cheese and sliced Smoked Sausage and Pepperoni.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- *Make it a bit saucier than you think you should...because it dries out some when it bakes.
*You may notice that there is no pepperoni in the photo…because I missed that item on my shopping list. Oops! But just goes to show there are many variations for the recipe, right??
I shopped for my ingredients at Safeway. Did you know they have eliminated the need for paper coupons with their J4U program? I always have good intentions when it comes to couponing but I either (1) forget to bring them with me or (2) try to use them after they have expired. With J4U, you can get eCoupons linked to your Safeway card that will be deducted from your bill. No paper, no cutting, no organizing! No brainer!
Now go check out these other great recipes in the Hillshire Brands and Safeway Blog Tour! I am definitely making the zombie and mummy ideas for Halloween!