Leftover pepperoni and leftover mozzarella from pizza paninis, leftover pasta from chicken cacciatore….hmm, lunch anyone? This would be a great dinner too, it would be worth buying ingredients just for this. Or you could go ahead and make all three dishes, that would work fine too! This is another recipe that you can customize and go many different directions with.

Baked pasta in a square white bowl covered with cheese.

Pizza Baked Pasta

Ingredients
cooked pasta of any type (I used whole wheat egg noodles-leftover)
pizza sauce
pepperoni, sliced and quartered
deli ham, roughly chopped
mozzarella cheese (the more, the better in my opinion)
Parmesan cheese (again, the more the better, right?)
spinach, roughly chopped (not a traditional pizza topping, but I tend to put it in everything…)
grape tomatoes, halved

Again, the portions are up to you as is what you put in the pasta. It would be great with some sauteed mushrooms and peppers. I’m trying to clean out my pantry and freezer a little this week (and keep the grocery bill low), so I didn’t have a ton of yummy things in the house.

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together, reserving some of the cheese to put on top of the pasta. Use enough pizza sauce so that all ingredients are moistened. Place in oven safe dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake until heated through (mine took about 15 minutes). I turned the broiler on for about the last 3-4 minutes to brown the cheese (watch it, it goes quickly). Carefully remove from oven and enjoy!

Verdict: This was a good way to eat leftovers. As I’ve said before, I don’t like to eat the same thing over and over again. I like to mix it up and create something new. I love how the pasta and cheese gets a little crispy and the tomatoes stayed plump and fresh. So good!
Husband’s take: This is another one that was just for me. Sorry honey.
Changes I would make: More veggies—always a good thing.
Difficulty:Very easy.