Pepperoni Ziti Casserole

Submitted by Iam4ever29

"I adapted this recipe for my crock-pot. Having 2 devout carnivores and 1 devout vegetarian in the house, it pleased both. I have a smaller crockpot that I use for my vegetarian crockpot and I added meat last."

 

• Ready In: 6hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 1 (1 lb) package uncooked ziti pasta
• 1⁄2 lb lean ground beef
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces
• 5 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1⁄2 cup ricotta cheese
• 4 teaspoons italian seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
• 1 1⁄2 ounces pepperoni

directions

1. Cook pasta until just tender.
2. Cook ground beef until no longer pink, drain.
3. Transfer meat to a large bowl.
4. Add 29 oz tomato sauce, 1 c mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, spinach, ricotta cheese, Italian Seasoning, garlic, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and pepper.
5. Fold pasta into meat mixture.
6. Pour into crockpot.
7. Combine water and remaining tomato sauce and pour over pasta mixture.
8. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzerella cheese.
9. Top with pepperoni.
10. Cover and bake on low for 5 to 6 hours.

Reviews

[Scrapbook Lori]

I have had this recipe cut out forever, and just finally tried it! The version I use is Weight Watchers friendly, substituting ground turkey for ground beef, and turkey pepperoni for pepperoni. (6 pts per 1 cup serving on weight watchers prepared this way.) I then take mixture and cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and another 5 minutes uncovered. Since our family is small and the servings were large, I prepared dish and then baked 1/2, and the other 1/2 I froze for another meal later. Great, easy dish for weeknights.