Skillet Pizza Pasta Casserole

This Skillet Pizza Pasta Casserole is a one pot dish perfect for family dinner, this is food for kids that adults will love too. Easy!

 I think we can all agree that sitting down to family dinner is an important part of family life.   Unfortunately, it’s just too easy to let busy schedules get in the way of sitting down to a family meal. 

Thankfully for my family, my kids are younger, I work from home and more importantly I grew up in a family where we valued family dinner.  I am also thankful that part of family dinner together was making dinner together, even when I was a child and couldn’t do much more than set the table or peel the carrots.

Preparing dinner together is a great way to not only bond a little but it’s also a great way to teach your children life skills.

Keira, my 3 year old, loves helping out in the kitchen.  My husband doesn’t dare make Jamaican dumplings without pulling up a chair for her to be able to make her own.  She loves to mix cooking dough, cake batter and anything else that requires mixing.  She even loves cleaning up and doing dishes!

Since she is 3, she is a pretty picky eater, but you can pretty much bet that anytime she helps to make dinner, she cleans her plate off.  I just let her help with anything I think she might be able to handle with a little supervision.

For example, I recently made this delicious, kid-friendly Skillet Pizza Pasta Casserole (recipe below!) for dinner.  A lot of it does involve the stove top which she is too young to help with but come time to top the casserole with our chosen toppings? She was right in the middle of it.   At dinner she was proud to share with Daddy and her little sister that she helped make dinner.

For us, it’s not just about eating together, it’s about spending time together and connecting with each other. 

Of course, serving meals that are kid-friendly and will actually get eaten is pretty important too!  Pasta is a great choice when it comes to family dinner as it cooks up quickly, is easy enough for literally anyone to cook, and just about everyone loves pasta.

Barilla, thinks so too and is here to help Canadians sit down to dinner again as a family with Share the Table™ – a program designed to help to reinvigorate family dinners across the country.

Skillet Pizza Pasta Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Ground Meat (Beef, Veal, or Pork)
1 small Onion, diced
1 pkg Pepperoni Slices
24 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce
3 cups Barilla Rotini Pasta
2 cups Water
2 cups shredded Mozzarella

DIRECTIONS:

Brown ground meat and onion in a large, oven proof skillet and drain excess fat.

Add pepperoni (reserving about 25 slices) and spaghetti sauce.

Add pasta and water, stir and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the most of the liquid is absorbed and pasta is tender.

Remove lid and sprinkle top with cheese and remaining pepperoni.

Broil until the cheese is lightly browned.

Alternatively, prior to sprinkling with cheese and pepperoni slices, you can transfer the meat and pasta mixture to individual sized casserole dishes for a more adult oriented meal.  Then spinkle with the cheese, and pepperoni slices and follow the rest of the directions.

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Skillet Pizza Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Meat
• 1 small Onion diced
• 1 Pkg Pepperoni Slices
• 24 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce
• 3 cups Barilla Rotini Pasta
• 2 cups Water
• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef and onion in a large, oven proof skillet and drain excess fat.
2. Add 25 slices of pepperoni and spaghetti sauce.
3. Add pasta and water, stir and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the most of the liquid is absorbed and pasta is tender.
5. Remove lid and sprinkle top with cheese and remaining pepperoni.
6. Broil until the cheese is lightly browned.

Wasn’t that easy?  For more inspiration check out the Barilla’s #ShareTheTable for recipes, tips and more!

Disclosure: This post has been brought to you by Barilla.  All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.