Pizzaiolo Pasta
We’ve combined two beloved Italian dishes—pizza and pasta—creating an extra-cheesy baked dish with our pizzaiolo pasta. This flavorful, one-pot pasta is an instant family favorite that’s easy on cleanup. Customize it with your family’s favorite pizza toppings for a fun twist on pizza night!
What we love about this pizzaiolo pasta
- What’s not to love here? This dish is pizza and pasta melted together by gooey mozzarella cheese. The fusion of pizza and pasta come together wonderfully, this is a fun and unique dish that everyone will love. Plus, you only need one pot for this recipe!
- Pizza night just got a whole lot better and more fun – regardless of who is joining you for it. We love how family friendly this dish is but you can also make it a bit more sophisticated by adding some diced artichokes to the sauce or a few dollops of ricotta cheese to the top before serving.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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- Pepperoni – Feel free to use a cooked sausage in its place if you prefer a sausage pizza. Alternatively, you can use any pizza toppings in place of the pepperoni – just make sure to keep the measurements the same.
- Crushed tomatoes
- Mozzarella cheese – You will want a low moisture, shredded mozzarella cheese for this recipe.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make pizzaiolo pasta
Saute the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Sauté onions and garlic until onions are translucent, then stir in remaining ingredients (except pepperoni and mozzarella cheese).
Boil the pasta. Cover and simmer until pasta is almost al denté – just a minute or two shy of the recommended time. Stir in pepperoni and top with mozzarella cheese and the remaining whole pepperoni – arranging to look like a pepperoni pizza.
Bake the dish. Place uncovered dish in a 350˚F oven, baking until golden and bubbly, or about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Everything you need to know about this baked pizza pasta
Pizzaiolo is an Italian word that refers to a pizza maker or pizza chef. This same term has been used to describe a style of cooking or any dish that incorporates ingredients that would normally be found on pizza. Pizzaiolo pasta is a pasta dish made in the style of a pizza.
This is a term that means pizza sauce, which as you probably already assumed is a tomato sauce seasoned with Italian seasonings. The basic ingredients should consist of tomato sauce, garlic, herbs, salt and sometimes crushed red peppers.
The main difference between the two sauces is whether or not you cook the sauce. A traditional pizza sauce will not be cooked, since it will cook in the baking process. Pasta sauce is typically simmered for a period of time to help develop the depth of flavor the sauce has to offer.
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Pizzaiolo Pasta
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
We’ve combined two beloved Italian dishes—pizza and pasta—creating an extra-cheesy, wonderfully zesty baked dish with our pizzaiolo pasta. This flavorful, one-pot pasta is an instant family favorite that’s easy on cleanup. Customize it with your family’s favorite pizza toppings for a fun twist on pizza night!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3–4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 16 ounce package penne pasta
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup water
- 24 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- ½ – 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup pepperoni, roughly chopped – reserving 10-12 for topping
- 2 cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté garlic and onions until onions are translucent then add remaining ingredients, except pepperoni and mozzarella.
- Cover and bring contents of dutch oven to a boil, over medium high heat. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle mozzarella cheese and top with reserved pepperoni. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Penne
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 418
- Sugar: 5.5 g
- Sodium: 996.2 mg
- Fat: 14.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.1 g
- Fiber: 3.2 g
- Protein: 22.6 g
- Cholesterol: 27.6 mg
Love this recipe! We had it last night and my kids loved it!