Pizza Macaroni Casserole

  
     I made this recipe up last night and it turned out delicious!  I had some smoked sausage that I needed to use up but only had about 6 oz. of it left so I threw this casserole together and used up the last of lots of other ingredients I had as well! It really worked out great and had amazing flavor.  Jackson named it Pizza Macaroni Casserole and gave extremely high reviews.  Maybe I should make up my own recipes more often! In all honesty I didn't measure anything so the only exact measurements I can provide is the size of cans I used for the sauce.  For those of you who don't feel comfortable shaking spices and adding ingredients "until it looks good" I'll go ahead and try to estimate what I used.  Here goes!

INGREDIENTS

6 oz. smoked sausage, sliced

pepperoni

2 cups dry macaroni noodles 

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water

1 - 1 1/2 cups mozarella cheese

1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese.

1 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp. dried onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. dried basil

1/8 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1.  Cook macaroni according to package directions.

2.  Meanwhile, in a casserole dish combine tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, sliced sausage, sugar, and spices.  Mix well. 

3.  When noodles are done, drain them and then add to the sauce mixture.  Mix well and coat noodles with sauce.  Taste test the sauce and adjust seasonings to your taste. 

4.  Place a layer of pepperoni on top of noodle mixture.  When I did this I just made sure each pepperoni was touching and created a solid single layer on the casserole.  It's the best part so don't go light on the pepperoni! 

5.  Top with mozzarella and paremesan cheese.

6.  Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 min. or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. 

Serve this up with some garlic bread and enjoy!  It's simple, fast, and you only dirty one pot and one casserole dish!