Pizza Casserole

i kept seeing this recipe popping up all over the facebook and the pinterest for a pizza casserole that looked delicious and nutritionally wasn't that bad.  but when i'd click on the links, it would just pull up the picture and the recipe on a page, not on any particular website, if that makes sense.  so i have no idea where to attribute this most fabulous dinner to.  did you catch that?  fabulous!  it was so good!  mr d helped himself to seconds.  seriously, the flavor on this pizza casserole was so amazing.  the original recipe i saw calls for olives and mushrooms, but i don't like mushrooms, and mr d doesn't like olives.  so i decided to switch out those ingredients for the ingredients we like on our pizza:  green peppers, jalapenos, and red onion.

 

Pizza Casserole

16 oz package rotini noodles

1 lb ground italian sausage

24 oz jar spaghetti sauce

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

16 oz container cottage cheese

1 1/2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded

pepperoni slices

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Cook the noodles al dente according to package directions.  In a skillet, cook sausage until evenly browned, add cooked noodles and spaghetti sauce.  Put meat mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.  In a small bowl, combine green pepper, onion, jalapeno, cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese.  Layer on top of meat mixture.  Top casserole with pepperoni slices.  Bake for 25 mins, until bubbly and lightly browned.

 

of course i used whole wheat noodles, non-fat cottage cheese and low-fat mozzarella cheese, and it was so good.  when i make it again, i'd like to try making it even more healthy by using chicken sausage or maybe just ground turkey, with some additional spices to add some of the flavor i'd be missing from the spicy italian sausage.