Pepperoni Pizza Macaroni

When we returned from a recent vacation, we discovered a mouse had taken up residency in our house.  The minutes we spotted the evidence, we started pulling everything out of closets, the pantry, and cupboards.  Instead of having a relaxing first-day-home-after-traveling, I spent 5 hours in the kitchen scrubbing and re-organizing. 

On the plus side, my Lock N Lock containers kept the mouse starved for food as he (a girl mouse would know better than to poop in my pantry) searched for morsels.  I also found items that needed to be used and others that made it to the compost pile. 

One item that needed to be used was a home-made pasta flop from several months ago.  If Barilla had an imperfect sale, these would be included.  Made from real ingredients: flour, eggs, and water and dried for storage, the penne shape did not hold and I had a bagful of halved penne pasta.  Used in Pepperoni Pizza Macaroni, the homemade pasta held up beautifully!

Use the word “pizza” in any dish and it will likely be a hit with the family.  Tonight, as I was slicing the olives, our oldest daughter was stealing the black olives and eating them.  Soon, our 1-year-old started copying her big sister and plopping olives in her mouth.  Another new food discovered – an loved!  Monkey see monkey do!

Pepperoni Pizza Macaroni

Serves 8

2 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta

1 pound ground Italian sausage

1 large onion, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can pizza sauce

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1/3 cup milk

1 (3.25 ounce) package sliced pepperoni, halved

1 (4 ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained

1 (6 ounce) can whole ripe olives, drained and halved

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions. 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Drain macaroni. In a large bowl, combine the pizza sauce, tomato sauce and milk. Stir in sausage mixture, macaroni, pepperoni, mushrooms and olives.

Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.