Easy Pasta Bake With 3 Meats

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How To Fill Up Hungry Teenage Boys

This easy pasta bake is perfect, especially when you have a bunch of hungry teenage boys to feed! It's loaded with ground beef, sausage, and pepperoni; everyone loves it!

There's an actual GB's Kitchen in south-central Nebraska. It's not a restaurant; it's in my little house. GB's kitchen was happiest when all six long-legged grandkids were gathered around the table. This sign was a gift from one family, and it hangs right above my stove. Know what? It works!

Even before there were grandkids, there was my perpetually hungry husband, our two girls, and their awesome husbands. (And I'll say it again: we won the son-in-law lottery TWICE!!)

They're all "appreciative eaters," and we could put away insane amounts of food long before there were six more of us! And I love cooking for a crowd; it's much more fun than cooking for two!

Why You'll Love This Meaty Pasta Bake

Pasta is almost universally enjoyed. It's inexpensive and makes a great filler, stretching the meat we add to a pasta bake so that it will serve more people. Rotini is perfect in this dish because it grabs and holds a lot of sauce!

This pasta bake recipe has made the rounds under several names. Still, we've simplified it to a semi-homemade version that goes together in a hurry and happily feeds a bunch of hungry teenagers. I guess it's what they call a "crowd pleaser."

I have to give credit to our daughter Karen for streamlining this recipe. Her son Nick loved bringing friends home for meals, so she constantly had to think about satisfying big appetites!

Sometimes, she just dished it up like goulash, skipping the baking. That way, the kids could add cheese or not as they like. Easy-peasy!! Leftovers (we always call them "planovers") reheat well in the microwave.

How To Make This Easy Meaty Pasta Bake

Start by boiling up a 16-ounce box of rotini in a big pot until it's "al dente." Use tri-color if you like. Rotini is the perfect shape to hang onto a bunch of sauce when you dish it up!

While that boils, brown the ground beef and sausage together. Drain off any excess fat, but don't get carried away! Fat is where the flavor is, so keep some of it!

I absolutely swear by this Pampered Chef tool. It breaks up meat into small crumbles as it browns. This helps the meat blend into the sauce beautifully. Drain the rotini, but you don't need to rinse it. Keep it in the pot you cooked it in. You will combine the sauce and meat mixture with the pasta bake.

Not all spaghetti sauce comes in quarts. Our very favorite sauce is Mister C's spaghetti sauce, created by the Caniglia's, a famous and well-loved Omaha, Nebraska restaurant family.

Don't skimp on the sauce! Buy an extra jar of your favorite if you need to! Spaghetti sauce freezes well! If you make your special homemade sauce, well, that would be ah-may-zing!

Put the meat and sauce mixture into a greased 13" x 9" casserole dish, dot it with pepperoni, then sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese generously! Bake it at 350 degrees until the cheese is all melty and golden brown on top.

I always get carried away with parsley, you may have noticed. I've always believed "we eat with our eyes." That's why I love a colorful plate!

A garnish, even if it's just parsley, makes everything look tastier, and I swear it makes it taste better, too! I always garnish with reckless abandon, and now you know the reason for my parsley fetish!!

Make this pasta dish when you've got a houseful. It's become a "fave" with us. Serve up with some good bread and a vegetable or salad. Fresh fruit would be good, too. That, and stretchy pants!

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Yield: 8

Easy Three Meat Pasta Bake

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A hearty, meaty, semi-homemade pasta dish that's quick to put together and tastes amazing!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

• One pound ground beef
• One pound bulk sausage, your favorite brand
• One 8-ounce package of sliced pepperoni
• One 16 ounce package of rotini pasta, cooked to al dente according to package directions. Drain, don't rinse.
• One quart of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella chees or more if you like!
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or more!
• 1 Tbsp parsley for garnish, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 13" by 9" baking pan and set aside.
3. According to package directions, cook pasta to al dente and drain, but don't rinse. Leave it in the pasta pot.
4. Brown the ground beef and sausage together, but don't drain all the fat.
5. Combine the meat mixture with the pasta sauce in the pasta pot and pour it into the greased casserole dish.
6. Dot with pepperoni slices.
7. Sprinkle on the cheese.
8. Garnish with parsley for color! The world needs more happy-looking food!
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and golden brown.

Notes

Cover any leftovers and refrigerate. Reheats well in the microwave!

Do you know what would be good for dessert now that you have turned on the oven? Busy Day Lemon Bars or Desperation Cookies! Both are so easy and so good!

If you enjoyed this recipe today, please share it on your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. I'd sure be tickled and ever so grateful; thank you! 

If you haven't already, check out my Facebook page, where I'll post easy, delicious, and family-friendly recipes every week!

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