Family Chow Hall

Pepperoni and Tubes Pasta

June 22nd, 2006

Yesterday was my littlest’s second birthday. These young birthdays are rather funny because everyone seems to be really excited about it except for the birthday kid, who doesn’t have a clue. It’s hilarious. All day we were trying to get him to say, “Two!” and we kept telling him “Happy Birthday!” He would just walk away and go about his daily activities.

Birthday tradition in this family dictates that the birthday person gets to pick whatever they want to eat that evening for supper, after which we’ll have the cake or pie, and then open gifts. Since two-year-olds aren’t very forthcoming about what they like to eat (besides candy and popsicles), we had to guess.

Peter “chose” baked cheesy pasta, fruit kabobs, and then cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. He enjoyed the kabob skewers so much that he ate his pasta with them. Daddy got nervous, however, and we later traded it for a toothpick.

I did the pasta differently than I ever had before and it was very good — here’s the recipe:

Pepperoni and Tubes
makes a lot! - 2 or 3 casseroles. Eat one and put the rest in the freezer.

1 box of penne or rigatoni pasta
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
3/4 c. water
1 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. basil
1 t. rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
2 t. sugar
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 lb. pepperoni

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. This probably means boiling in a large pot of salted water for 8-10 minutes, then draining it. Run some cold water over the pasta so it doesn’t continue to cook and get mushy - ick!

In a large bowl, combine everything except the cheese and pepperoni. I used a whisk to break up the mushroom soup. Feel free to add mushrooms, onions, pepper, olives, etc. Cut the pepperoni into small pieces and add to the sauce. Add half of the mozzarella to the sauce, too. Toss this with the drained pasta.

Grease two casserole dishes (maybe three if you have a smaller family) and just dump it in. Top with the remaining cheese. You’ll bake this for about 30 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

Entry Filed under: Casseroles, Holidays, Italian, Mixed bag, Recipes, Supper, meatless, pork