Pizza Casserole Made Easy

This is a step by step guide written by a college student which is meant to be the easiest and most understandable instructions to making Pizza Casserole. You may ask yourself, "Why not just have Lasagna?" The answer--because pizza is the best food ever made and it should be a part of every meal you eat! If you don't believe me, just ask any doctor. They will even attest that it is good for you. But on a more serious note, I intend to provide instructions to preparing a meal that although isn't the easiest to prepare can be made by anyone, even a busy person that has little experience in the kitchen, like myself.

Most, if not all. of the ingredients can be found at your local supermarket.

• Glass or aluminum baking pan (8" x 13" or 8" x 8")
• 8 oz. rotini noodles
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 small onion
• 45 oz. pasta sauce
• 12 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 16-24 pepperonis (can add desired amount)
• Any other pizza toppings (optional)
• Sharp knife to slice onion (WARNING: Do not touch the blade, if you touch it you will get cut.)

To make the oven hot enough, you need to preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While waiting on this step to finish, I would suggest starting on the others.

While waiting for the oven to preheat:

1. Fill a pot with 1 quart of water.
2. Set your pot on a stove eye.
3. Turn the stove eye on high.
4. Add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to water.
5. Bring water to a boil.
6. Pour 8 oz. rotini noodles into the pot.
7. Reduce heat to medium.
8. Let the noodles boil uncovered 8-10 minutes.

As the noodles are cooking, you can begin the next step.

Before opening the package of ground beef, place a frying pan on your stove and set the stove eye to high.

CAUTION: If you touch the stove eye, you will get burned.

While the pan heats up, you have time to dice your onion. After you finish dicing, begin crumbling the ground beef into the pan, then place the onion. There is no need to add any cooking spray as the natural grease from the beef will keep the meat from sticking to the pan.

Stir the beef as it is cooking, making sure it is browned completely.

After the beef is brown, remove from heat and drain, if needed. Then stir in the pasta sauce.

Drain the water from the noodles and pour into the baking pan.

After pouring noodles into the baking pan, evenly spread them so there is a flat surface of noodles.

Pour the meat, sauce, and onions over the noodles while spreading it with your spoon or spatula.

After all previously cooked ingredients are added to the baking pan, add any desired pizza toppings.

These typically consist of:

• Mozzarella Cheese
• Pepperonis
• Peppers
• Ham
• Salami
• Mushrooms
• Bacon
• Black Olives

After adding all the desired pizza toppings, insert the casserole into the preheated oven. The baking process will take 30 minutes. During this time, you do not need to do anything with the casserole. Set a timer for 30 minutes and spend the time as you please.

When the 30 minutes is over, grab a pot holder or oven mitt to take the pan out of the oven. Place the pan on a non-flammable surface and cut the casserole.

Eat the casserole with the knowledge and happiness of making an amazing meal with your own two hands. Or invite someone over to share the meal with, as it will be a large amount of food.