Baked Pizza Pasta {recipe}

We are big pasta eaters.  The way it usually goes is that we make pasta one night.  And then, maybe we have part of a big can of tomatoes or sauce left.  So, then we have to make another pasta dish.  Then, that one is so good, that we'll just add another dish to next week's menu...  So, we go on pasta dish binges for a few weeks, and then we don't make any for a couple months.  It's a vicious, tasty cycle.

We hadn't had pasta in ages again and so last week I decided to do a baked pasta in the crock pot.  Baked pasta in the crock pot is only mildly convenient.  You still have to brown your ground meat and cook your pasta.  But, it meant that I got to do this all the night before, mix it up and pop it in the crock pot the next morning which was still more convenient than cooking when I got home.

This is such a delicious baked pasta dish.  It smells like pizza while it's cooking.  What's not to love about that?!  You can customize this one just as you would customize your own pizza.

Baked Pizza Pasta
Ingredients

• 1 lb shaped pasta (not spaghetti)
• 15 oz ricotta cheese (I used skim)
• 1-2 cup shredded pizza blend cheese
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• chopped pepperoni
• small can sliced black olives
• chopped onion
• chopped green pepper
• Italian or pizza seasoning (or rosemary, garlic, oregano, basil)

Directions

1. Spray your crock with cooking spray.
2. Cook your pasta and drain it.
3. Brown the ground beef and season it with the Italian seasoning.  Drain it.
4. Chop the veggies. 
5. Chop the pepperoni if you're like me and just get a few slices from the deli instead of a whole package.
6. Mix the shredded cheese, ricotta and pasta sauce together.  Add in the chopped veggies, olives and pepperoni.
7. Dump the pasta into the crock.
8. Add the ground beef and stir.
9. Add the sauce mixture and stir really well to combine everything.
10. Add some shredded cheese on top and another couple shakes of Italian seasoning.
11. Cook on low until everything is warmed through and the cheese is melted.

This is so tasty with some fresh bread and a salad.  The leftovers didn't last nearly as long as I thought they would.  Doug got home from work the night I made this and had two big helpings.  Definitely a recipe to keep!

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