Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

I really like Kevin’s recipes and I really like pasta and I really like pepperoni pizza and I really like one dish meals so when I saw the recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Pasta on his “Closet Cooking” blog, I knew it was a must try and I thought it would be perfect for our Friday evening get together.  For gluten intolerant buddy, Joe, I decided to make one batch with gnocchi and one with pasta (Bev’s preference), so I doubled everything but the pasta and used both ground beef and Italian sausage to get the recipe below.  I also changed the cooking instructions quite a bit  You can click on the above link for Kevin’s original recipe and I thought it was brilliant to cook the bacon and pepperoni first then cook everything else in the same grease with all that flavor.

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta – Adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

8 oz. of bacon, sliced

8 oz. of pepperoni, sliced in quarter rounds

16 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 large onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tsp. Italian seasoning, divided

1 qt. Raos marinara sauce, divided

6 cups beef broth, divided

1 lb. fresh mozzarella, divided  - see note 1

8 oz. pasta

24 oz. gnocchi

salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese to taste

Note 1: Since my fresh mozzarella was too soft to shred, I mixed it all into the sauce and added no cheese to the top of the dish until plated so it wasn't nearly as pretty as Kevin's version.

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a large pan before setting aside on paper towels to drain.

2. Cook the pepperoni in the bacon grease in the same pan before setting aside.

3. Cook the mushrooms and onions in the remaining grease before setting aside.

4. Cook the beef and sausage in the same pan, breaking the meats apart as they cook, until cooked through, before draining off any excess grease.

5. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

6. Add the bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and mushrooms to the meat and mix well.

7. Remove half of the mixture to a second pan.

8. To each pan, add half each of the Rao’s, broth, Italian seasoning and mozzarella and mix well.

9. Add the pasta to one pan and the gnocchi to the other.

10. Bring both pans to a boil, reduce the heat and to simmer and cook until the pasta and the gnocchi are cooked to your liking.

11. Serve with fresh grated parmesan and crushed red pepper.  

We sided it with one of Bev's nice salads and this is my gnocchi version.

The Verdict:

As expected from one of Kevin's recipes, I thought it was delicious as did most of the Friday crowd but to my great surprise, my wife, the consummate carnivore, said it had too many meats for her.  The 8oz. of pasta was just right for one pan of sauce, but since the gnocchi didn’t swell very much, it took 24oz to match with the sauce - I’ll know that about gnocchi from now on, BUT will I remember? 😊

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/07/22 meal date