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Chef Michael Smith’s New Baby Pizza Pasta


  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x

Description

Scroll to the bottom for more details!


Ingredients

Scale

1/2 box penne pasta

1 pound Lepp’s spicy pepperoni, chopped in 1 inch pieces

4 pints (or so) Cherry Tomatoes

2 large onions cut in 8

1 head garlic cloves, peeled and halved

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons or so dried oregano

4 ounces cream cheese

12 sprinkles salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

3 cups or so mozzarella cheese, shredded


Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).Toss pepperoni, tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and olive oil in a large bowl. Turn into a 9- X 13-inch (3.5L) ovenproof casserole or baking dish. After 30 minutes or so stir the works once or twice then keep an eye on things. Bake until the tomatoes soften and the
pepperoni and onion lightly brown, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set to broil.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta in lots of boiling salted water. Drain it well but do not rinse or you will drain away the surface starch that helps the sauce cling to it. When the roast tomato sauce has finished cooking toss it with the pasta and stir in the cream cheese. Top with the mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 5 minutes or so. Your hearty pizza pasta is ready! Call in the gang, serve and share.

To freeze, cook pasta only until al dente (slightly undercook), proceed with the rest of the cooking instructions and place in a disposal pan or dish.  Cool, cover with tin foil, label and freeze.  To serve, simply thaw and reheat.

It’s as easy to adapt this recipe as it is to top a pizza to suit your crowd. Any tomato variety will work and feel free to toss in some black olives, artichoke hearts or assorted mushrooms. Your imagination is the limit!