Pizza Breadstick Casserole

A Pillsbury recipe with a few substitutions to suit our tastes and to account for product availability where we live.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1  lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup  diced  pepperoni
• 1 1⁄2 cups  three-cheese pasta sauce
• 1 (11 ounce) can  pillsbury  refrigerated breadstick dough
• 3  tablespoons  melted butter
• 3⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
•  parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1  cup  shredded colby-monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
2. Brown ground beef; drain.
3. Stir in pepperoni and pasta sauce. Cook until boiling, stirring frequently, and keep hot.
4. Meanwhile, combine melted butter and garlic powder. Unroll the breadstick dough, and brush butter mixture over the top. Separate dough into 10 breadsticks, and cut each breadstick into three crosswrise pieces.
5. Spoon ground beef mixture into baking dish and spread dough pieces, garlic side up, evenly over hot ground beef mixture (make sure ground beef is piping hot to ensure that the underside of the breadsticks cook completely). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if you wish.
6. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and no longer doughy.
7. Sprinke with colby-monterery jack cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.