SLOW COOKER PIZZA CASSEROLE

Recently when our younger son and his wife went out for the evening, they asked us to come hang out with the kids. They were leaving before dinner so we would be eating dinner with the kids. Patrick said we were having a leftover pizza casserole that Lori had made that was good. 

After Granddaughter Madison finished her homework, Grandad decided he was ready to eat so we warmed up the casserole. I served out some in a bowl and asked Grandson Tyler if that was enough. Then I went over and sprinkled a little water on top. Madison was watching very closely what I was doing and wasn't too sure about it. Then I served up some for Madison. She looked at Tyler and asked him how it tasted with the water on it. He told her it was good so she told me I could give her some. It was so cute! 😁 When Patrick and Lori got back home, Patrick looked in the refrigerator and saw we had not eaten all of it, and said, "Oh, good, I have lunch tomorrow."

I asked Lori for the recipe and told her I wanted to make it for us. She told me she had forgotten the ground beef (Glad to know I am not the only one who misses ingredients in recipes and she's a lot younger than I am.) and I told her Italian sausage would have tasted good in it. She laughed and said that Patrick had said the same thing. (He is my son after all.) Lori used Penne pasta and also used 16 oz of cheese that she grated. (Madison said she loves lots of cheese, but Lori's recipe called for that much.) She also layered her with pizza sauce first, then pasta, then cheese, and finally pepperoni. I didn't see hers the day before when she made it and I didn't ask her, but it looked like she had stirred it after it cooked. 

I used rotini pasta and regular sausage. Aldi did not have Italian sausage, but it was so cold outside with the wind chill factor, I decided it wasn't worth running into Walmart to get just that. After the sausage cooked, I shook a generous portion of Italian seasoning over it and then poured the pizza sauce over it. I didn't do a great job dividing the pasta in half, but I found when I served it, I noticed some of the top layer of pasta which was thicker wasn't completely covered with the meat sauce.  We personally do not like a lot of sauce, but if you do, I would suggest using only 12 ounces of the pasta instead of the whole box. (I had found another similar recipe that used only 12 ounces.) Oh, I also used turkey pepperoni.

It is a fabulous casserole and tastes just as good the second, third, or fourth time. (Remember there is just the two of us in our house.)

SLOW COOKER PIZZA CASSEROLE

1     box pasta (Rotini or Penne), cooked (16 - oz)
2     cans (14 - oz) pizza sauce
1     lb ground beef or Italian sausage (I used regular sausage and added some Italian seasoning after it cooked)
1     (5 oz) pkg of pepperoni (I didn't use quite all of the pkg.)
8     oz mozzarella cheese, grated (Can use more cheese if like.) 

Cook pasta according to pkg directions, drain.

Cook meat in skillet and break up.

Add pizza sauce to the 
skillet when meat is done.










Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Layer in cooker:

half of the pasta

half of the meat mixture

half of the pepperoni

half of the cheese











Repeat layers. (Can't believe I forgot to take a picture.)

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours. Turn down to Keep Warm if not ready to serve.