Our pizza pasta bake is an exciting twist on traditional pizza. For an easy dinner add your favorite toppings to a bed of noodles and load on the cheese.
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Pizza Pasta Bake
The idea for this recipe came from a hospital cafeteria. No joke.
They had the most amazing pizza bake that you customized as you went along and they would heat it up in a stone fireplace.
It was amazing. Probably the only good thing about that hospital visit.
We set out to create our own pizza pasta bake dish, it was just that good.
I knew the key was going to be a delicious creamy sauce as a base.
From there, everyone picked out their own pizza toppings to add into the recipe.
We made a couple of smaller pans for individual servings for the pickest kids in the group.
The rest of us split the large casserole dish.
Everyone was thrilled with dinner, especially getting to have a say.
It was a winner all around, and a really easy dish to make.
We all liked this yummy pizza pasta bake, it quickly was added to our dinner rotation.
Pizza Pasta Bake Recipe
Pizza Pasta Bake
Our pizza pasta bake is an exciting twist on traditional pizza. For an easy dinner add your favorite toppings to a bed of noodles and load on the cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 lb penne noodles
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup medium cheddar cheese
- Seasonings
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- Pizza pasta filling suggestions:
- hard salami
- pepperoni
- mushrooms
- peppered turkey
- fried little smokies, chopped
- Italian sausage
- spinach
Instructions
- Boil the noodles, strain and set aside.
- Make a creamy white sauce by heating butter and flour over a medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly consistency. Slowly stir in milk and cream, then heat to boiling.
- Stir in sharp and medium cheddar cheese, until melted. Add in seasonings, to taste.
- Mix noodles in with the sauce and toss in any desired fillings. *You can mix-in different fillings to suit each family member's tastes and bake individual portion sizes in mini bread loaf pans or other similar small bakeware.
- Transfer pizza pasta into a baking dish and sprinkle the top with mozarella cheese.
- Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Brett Beyer says
I love Love LOVE this idea! It seems so simple, but it really gets the job done! I’m saving it to my feed so I can make it for dinner tonight (no joking!)
Jaclyn Anne. says
This pizza pasta bake looks amazing! I am a sucker for anything with melted cheese, so I am adding this recipe to my “must try” list. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
Diane Hoffmaster says
That looks delicious. Seriously…all my kids favorite foods all wrapped up in one easy dish!
Becky says
This looks good! I’ve never found good food at the hospital cafeteria, so that was awesome that you did! My family LOVES pizza, so I’m betting they will love this dish!
Marcie W. says
This dish takes everything I love about pizza and makes it simple to whip together. A total crowd pleaser for sure!
Mary R. Trapani says
I printed the recipe and will try it soon. Think maybe will add my homemade garlic cheese bread also
Janel says
Yum, that would pair perfectly!