Pizza Casserole

It is the First Day of School for us and here is something the kids will love!

This one I found through my neighbor friend and their whole family loves this recipe.  We do, too.  Again, I’ve made it several times with different variations to see how bad I could mess it up, I mean how nutritious I could make it without losing flavor.  Why I love this recipe:  relatively inexpensive, feeds a crowd, can split and freeze or split and give to a family in need, comes together quickly and little active work.

The yield and measurements feed our small family of 4.  If you want to eat this for leftovers or make the normal casserole size, then double the ingredients and prepare in a 9×13 dish.  Feel free to add pepperoni on top of the meat layer.  Yum!

Pizza Casserole
yield 6 servings

1/2 Tb. vegetable or olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper or 1 small bell pepper, diced
1 lb. Italian sausage (I used Salsiccia; it may be a St. Louis Italian sausage thing)
1 Tb. Italian seasoning
1/2 cup AP flour or white whole wheat flour (wheat flour will turn darker like in the photo after being in the fridge a while)
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch black pepper
1/2 cup milk (use a little more if using whole wheat flour since the wheat flour tends to soak up the moisture more)
1 egg
1/2 Tb. olive oil, optional
1 cup (I just grabbed a handful) shredded mozzarella (or Italian cheese)
12 oz. pizza sauce (I had TJ’s marinara and threw in some added oregano)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 11×7 or 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
2.  Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat.  Add onion and bell pepper.  Cook until soft, about 7 minutes
3.  Add your sausage and break up into little pieces.  Cook until done (not pinkish).  If you hate grease like me, pour this onto a plate of paper towels and drain.
4.  While that is cooking:  in a small bowl mix Italian seasoning, flour, salt, pepper, milk, egg and olive oil (optional) together.  Set aside.
5.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese into the bottom of the sprayed baking dish.  Add the cooked sausage mixture on top.  Spoon or pour the sauce onto the sausage mixture.
6.  Scoop the flour mixture on top of the sauce and then spread it out over the casserole.
7.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
8.  Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from http://pictureperfectcooking.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/southern-plates-deep-dish-pizza/

My baby and his 9 stitches on the first day of school.  *sniff sniff*