Win over all of the kids and grown-ups in your house with this new instant classic that feeds more than two everything pizzas. Fresh and packaged mozzarella give it the best melty consistency.
The main idea of this was good--the creamy noodles under the layer of meat and cheese, etc. But the pepperoni, I thought, didn't quite go with the dish. The first time I made this I'd gotten the recipe from somewhere else and used a combination of hamburger and sausage in the meat layer and left out the pepperoni. I used thicker than usual spaghetti on the bottom layer and increased the amount of sauce a little. It turned out just delicious. Maybe I just had beginner's luck on the first one, but I didn't like this casserole as made by this recipe nearly as much.
I made this for church potluck today. I must say it is very delicious and went over very well with everyone. I made with all the recipe ingredients (no more/no less) however not by the recipe instructions. I browned the sausage and garlic in a pot with olive oil. I then added the onion, red/green bell peppers, olives, mushrooms and chopped pepperoni. Once cooked to liking I added the marinara sauce and simmered a bit. I tossed cooked Rotini with the marinara mixture and set aside while I made the white sauce. I made white sauce per instructions except put half & half in marinara jar and shook to incorporate sauce left behind in jar. Once thickened I layered 1/2 of pasta mixture in pyrex pan, topped with 1/2 of white sauce then repeated process. Topped with mozzarella cheese and baked for 45 minutes. I didn't put slices of pepperoni on top, instead I used all pepperoni chopped and added to marinara mixture. Will definitely make again.
Very tasty and filling. Cream sauce really adds a nice touch; almost like a white pizza sauce. I would add some spinach, esp because of the cream sauce. Ingredients take a while to prepare, so if you don't have time after work, prepare ingredients that you can the night before or make it on a weekend. Freeze what you can. Bake this in a traditional lasagna dish. A regular 9X13 pan isn't deep enough. I'm giving this a five because of the taste, but don't consider this a healthy dish.
This recipe was actually very time consuming to make...but it was worth it! Everyone loved it and it was even better the next day!
