Grams Made Pizza Casserole

When Nick was in primary school, the class made cookbooks for Mother's Day gifts. As part of the assignment, each child listed their mom's favorite foods. This was not a problem for Nick. He only put two items on the list of my favorite foods ... pizza and chocolate. And may I say that he was spot on. Those are still my two favorite foods.

Grandad and Grams both love pizza. When we heard the story this week about the lady who was saved by her pizza delivery person, I thought to myself "that could be us." We used to order pizza every Thursday night. We would watch Survivor and eat pizza. We ordered the same pizza with such regularity that, on the rare week we didn't order, the pizza delivery guy would tell us the next week that he had been worried about us. We've given that up, although we do occasionally still order a pizza. We try to eat something a little healthier.

This week, when Thursday rolled around, I had my Thursday night pizza craving.  Then when I checked my computer I saw a recipe for an Italian casserole in my inbox. Both of these combined made me decide to come up with a recipe for a pizza flavored casserole.

Pizza Casserole

2 cups uncooked Rotelle pasta
½ pound mild Italian sausage
1 package sliced Pepperoni
1 package (8 ounces) Velveeta
2 cups grated Italian blend cheese
1 can sliced black olives
2 jars (8 ounces) pizza sauce
1 can sliced mushrooms

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Spray a 9” x 12” casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and spread half of one jar of pizza sauce in the bottom of the pan.

While the pasta is cooking, remove sausage casing and brown the sausage in a skillet with a little olive oil. Add mushrooms in the last few minutes of browning. Drain.

Cube the Velveeta and cut half of the Pepperoni slices into quarters.

Drain pasta and return to pan. Stir in Velveeta, olives, sausage-mushroom mixture, the quartered Pepperoni, one cup of the grated cheese, and the rest of the pizza sauce.

Pour the pasta mixture into the casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Spread the remaining slices of Pepperoni over the top like a pizza. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

I used Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, mushrooms and black olives because those are our favorite pizza toppings. You can substitute your favorite toppings for any of these.  


This turned out to be so delicious that I'm definitely making it next time Our Little Princess visits.

Grams Made Chicken Saltimbocca

A couple of years ago when our son married, Grams and Grandad got off very easy. All we really had to do was host the rehearsal dinner. We chose Buca di Beppo, a fabulous Italian restaurant in Houston. The atmosphere is casual and the food is incredible! It's the perfect place for a rehearsal dinner.

The highlight of the meal for me was Chicken Saltimbocca. Since then I've tried this dish in several other restaurants. None of them has measured up to the Buca di Beppo version. I found a couple of "copycat" versions on the internet. I combined several of them and made a few alterations. It's much easier than I expected and came out remarkably similar to Buca's dish.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 thin slices of Prosciutto ham
1 tablespoon ground sage
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 all-purpose flour
1 small can artichoke hearts, quartered
a handful of capers
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
salt & pepper to taste

Rub chicken breasts with sage. Place sliced Prosciutto on top of the chicken and pound it into the breast until the thickness of the chicken measures 3/8 inch.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet. Dredge the chicken/Prosciutto in flour to coat lightly. Place in heated oil, Prosciutto site down. Brown one side, turn and brown the other side (about 3 minutes per side). Remove chicken from pan to a large platter. Drain off excess oil and deglaze skillet with white wine. Add artichokes, lemon juice, cream and butter. Cook until sauce is thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour sauce over chicken breasts and top with capers.

Grams Made Chicken and Pepperoni

This recipe comes close to satisfying my occasional craving for pizza. It has the flavors of pizza without the carbs. Even better, it's made in the crock pot.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
3 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni
1/2 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella

Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and place in crock pot. Add pepperoni and olives. In a small bowl whisk together chicken broth, tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Add to crock pot.

Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Top with shredded Mozzarella. May be served over pasta or rice.

Grams Made Baked Ziti

Everybody loves this easy Italian dinner. Just add a salad and you've got a delicious dinner. This recipe easily serves 6-8 people.

Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ouces ziti rigate (or other short pasta)
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded part-skim Mozzarella
1 can (24-26 ounces) crushed tomatoes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions, drain and reserve.

In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and half of the Mozzarella; season with salt and pepper.

In the bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole dish, spread half the tomatoes. Top with ziti, then ricotta mixture and remaining tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining Mozzarella. Place casserole on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until top is browned and sauce is bubbling, 20-25 minutes.

Grams Made Crock-Pot Italian Roast Beef

This is on of my son Nick's favorite dishes. I serve it with mashed potatoes and a salad. It's so good!

3-5 lbs. rump roast
1 pkg. Italian Dressing mix
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
6 pepperoncini peppers
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together beef broth, dressing mix, and Italian seasoning. Pour over beef roast in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pepperoncini peppers. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.