The marriage of Pizza and Pasta

So I feel like I need to lead with the fact that I am not Italian.  Not even a little.  But I have an enormous love for Italian food.  What’s not to love? Sauce? Pasta? Cheese? More cheese?  I love it all.  So you can imagine my dismay when the calorie counts are not in my favor.  Is it just me or are some of the most delicious foods a billion calories?  Or the serving size is a Tablespoon?  Yes, I know I could substitute zucchini or eggplant or some sort of non-noodle as a noodle, but it just isn’t the same.  Somewhere between the texture and the taste the message being sent to my brain is “this is not right. Stop chewing. Don’t swallow. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!?!”

This led me to scan the Pinterest archives….which I gladly did (and picked up about 20 more recipes that must be tried in our R&D Dept (aka kitchen).  And I came across a picture that had melty, bubbly, gooey cheese AND pepperoni AND pasta and I think the word healthy may have been in there too somewhere.  I was intrigued.  Pizza and pasta? Together as one?  Let the games begin. This may or may not be a version of a Weight Watchers meal that is out there or something close to it.  And I will give credit where credit is due, so here is the actual link: Pinterest Link

I swiftly took to myfitnesspal to put in the recipe so I could see just how many miles I would need to be running in order to consume such a cheesy dish (there are two cups of cheese people!  TWO CUPS!!) I noticed that this was a meal that could be had on a non-workout day.  Even better.  My lazy….ummm…back side….. is already preparing the thank you notes.

Here is how this story goes…..and all stories are better automatically when there are pictures, am I right? I must also state that I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients before I started, unlike my much more organized snack buddy Jane, so I have made a mental note to do this next time. 

There is a common debate that I am convinced takes place in many households…..italian sausage vs ground beef.  I myself am not an Italian sausage fan.  I blame this on my lack of Italian-ness so if you prefer Italian sausage to groundbeef, godspeed my friend. This is very similar to my feelings on Cilantro.  Either you like it or you don’t….side note: wouldn’t the debates around election time have been hugely more fun if there were topics such as “Pro-Italian Sausage vs Pro-Ground Beef” or “What is your stance on Cilantro”? Take note politicians….

Ah yes…back to pizza pasta….

What you will need:

·       1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage

·       1 garlic clove minced

·       1 chopped medium yellow onion

·       1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

·       32 slices of Turkey pepperoni

·       8 oz Rotini noodles

·       1 Jar of pasta sauce (2 ½ cups worth)

·       2 cups of shredded Mozzarella (this is not a typo..again 2 CUPS!!)

First sauté the onions and garlic until soft and then brown whichever meat you choose with the onions and garlic and drain any excess fat.  Add the pasta sauce and Italian seasoning.

 At the same time boil the noodles until just about done…each type is different so I just follow the directions on the box. Drain the noodles and combine them with the sauce and meat mixture. 

I grated the mozzarella because the block cheese is more melty and gooey, but it is certainly a time saver to use the pre-shredded cheese.  P.S. Mozzarella is like fiet cheese without even trying at only 80 calories for ¼ cup.  Thus my love of cheese is once again reinforced.

Add half of the cheese to the pasta sauce/meat/noodle mixture and mix together.  Before transferring to the 9x13 baking dish I HIGHLY recommend spraying with cooking spray.  I myself am not the dish do-er in our house, but using cooking spray will spare you the evil glances from those that are stuck with the deplorable job of doing dishes.  Learn from my mistakes fellow snack lovers…..Once the pasta mixture is in the pan, top with the remaining cheese and then strategically place the pepperoni on top. 

  

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 20-25 min or until the pepperoni has curled up nice and crispy-like and all of the cheese is bubbling.  Side note: Everything is pre-cooked so really even if everything was melty before the 20-25 minute mark, the dinner police will not be alerted so I say go for it.   

I divided the pan into 8 servings or 4 pepperoni slicess each and that equates to 293 calories per serving based on the ingredients I used.  Which obviously means I had plenty of calories left for 2 slices of cheesy garlic bread (I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t recommend Pepperidge Farms 5 cheese garlic Texas Toast).  I know I COULD have added a salad instead of the bread….but….let’s be honest here.  I will always choose garlic bread over salad. 

Always. 

ALWAYS.