Thursday, August 26, 2010

I want Slow Cooker Pizza in my Lunchbox

The theme at IHCC is….Lunch Box. And of course Pasta is always the theme at Presto Pasta Nights!



All over the country parents are preparing the kiddies to go back to school, gathering new lunch boxes and mentally planning an appealing lunch to pack for their offspring. Well, what kid doesn’t like pizza? Here’s a dish to tip into your Tupperware that will smack the taste buds of your pizza-gobbling munchkins.

This is a my variation on Mark Bittman’s pizza, published in his column in the New York Times, Dining and Wine.
It’s a Pizza Casserole. It gives you a break in the kitchen too as it’s a slow cooker meal.

Ingredients…….

1 ½ pounds Italian sausage (use beef or turkey if you prefer)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Mushrooms, sliced, if you like them
Half a box of pasta such as rigatoni or shells….whatever you fancy – be sure they are COOKED

Sliced pepperoni (I used the 3 oz sliced package)
16-oz. jar pizza sauce or homemade pasta sauce
10 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
10 oz. cheddar cheese shredded

Brown the meat and onion in a saucepan, drain fat off. (I use a can for the grease and put it in the freezer to toss out later. That way you won’t have a potential sticky mess hanging about, waiting to defile your counter tops. )



Layer half of each of the following in this order. (Into the crock pot) Browned meat and onions; green pepper, cooked noodles, mushrooms if you like them; pepperoni, pizza sauce, cheddar cheese then mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers.




Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours.

Important tip! Keep the noodles covered with sauce or they will get crunchy and dry out a bit.




Surf over to I Heart Cooking Club and see what others have cooked up. Click HERE and you’ll be magically transported. This is also a good candidate for Presto Pasta Nights...go visit Allie of of Yum in Tum as she is the host this week :-)

Cheers!

Presto IHCC

19 comments:

  1. pizza in a crockpot - who'd thunk it? ... ideas and recipes like this makesme want to eat more than 4 times a day!

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  2. My son would love this! I love that it is made in the slow cooker - perfect for dipping a hunk of French bread into.

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  3. I love this one so much that I'm going to make it too:) I just did a sweep of the pantry and need to run to the store for pasta. Can you believe that I don't have any pasta in my pantry? What in the world am I thinking?

    This just looks like comfort food that my whole family would love. Thanks for pointing it out!

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  4. My son lives and dies for pizza. I am thinking he might like this too. This would be a great recipe to pull together mid-week.

    My home during the week is a crazy place and any food that can be prepared ahead of time is always a good idea.

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  5. The pictures/recipe have made me "go all spitty!" ... in a good way!
    Mrs L

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  6. What a fantastic and easy recipe. I am sure it tastes great!
    I use my slow cooker; year round; best invention ever.

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  7. Drick - I know, a crockpot! Easy! Thanks for the award, I saw it on Google reader this morning. I'll be by to pick it up today :-)

    Natashya - so right...alas, we were out of baguettes but my son kindly brought home biscuits from work.

    Kim - No pasta?! How could that be :-) I am almost out of it myself and need to stock up.

    Velva - We are also fans of all pizza...this one still has the carbs from the pasta but no crust. Hope you like it!

    Madame L - spit away :-) I dropped some off a fork onto...wouldn't you know....cream colored pants. Grrr

    Sage - Don't you just love the ease of a slow cooker. You may know this tip already but, if you have caked on, burnt on food...toss a dryer sheet into hot water inside the pot. It will wipe clean.

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  8. Everything with the name pizza is perfect for me. I am an endless pizza lover.

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  9. Very fun! It looks and sounds delicious. I would be happy to find this in my lunchbox any day. ;-)

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  10. WANT. THIS. IN. MY. LUNCH. BOX. DEEE. LISH. ;-p

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  11. I love this idea! There are definitely times where I'm craving pizza but just don't feel like making dough. Perfect!

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  12. Katerina - Us too! Every Friday is pizza night for us. We chillmout with pizza, wine and a movie.

    Deb- Thanks, I like the easy ones sometimes :-)

    Girlichef - I would pack you a couple of tupperware boxes of this stuff. Easy - thank you!

    Joanne - Let me know if you make it!

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  13. What a great meal - we LOVE pizza around here and I love crockpot meals!

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  14. What a fantastic idea - it's still very much crockpot weather here, even though today is officially the last day of winter (yay!!), so this is a winner for me.
    Sue

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  15. What a great combo! Thanks for sheering with Presto Pasta Night

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  16. I love the idea of this dish - thanks for participating in PPN this week!

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  17. I'm a huge fan of throwing noodles in "pizza" dishes (last week I made mac & cheese pizza) and this is a great new idea! Thanks for the creativity, and it looks delicious.

    Dropping in from PPN :)
    -Krista
    www.thebeetreporter.blog.com

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  18. I might need to get a bigger lunch box :-)

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