Pizza Macaroni and Cheese

 My Grandma made this once while visiting as a kid. I thought it would be fun to recreate for my family since everyone loves pepperoni. Any type of prepared macaroni and cheese makes a great base for this and bottled pizza sauce can also be substituted to make this even faster. Leave off the pepperoni and add peppers, olives, and onions for a supreme pizza. Or bacon and ham for a meat loves. This is a great way to use up leftover macaroni and cheese or meat or vegetables left in the fridge. 

Presto Pasta Nights 265 is at The Crispy Cook. 

2  - 3 boxes macaroni and cheese (with cheese sauce)

1/2 c. sour cream

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black peppers
1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. thyme
pinch rosemary

1 8 oz. bag Italian cheese

Pepperoni

Cook the pasta according the package directions. Drain and mix with cheese sauce packets and sour cream. Pour into a 9x13 in baking pan.

Drain the tomatoes really well and puree. Mix in the seasonings and carefully spread on top of the macaroni and cheese.

Sprinkle the Italian cheese evenly over the top and then top with pepperoni. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted. If the pepperoni is still not crisp broil for 3 - 4 minutes until it is.

Pizza (for the freezer)

Since I'm on a frozen food kick right now I thought I would mention, 

and give instructions for, homemade frozen pizza.

I make a Sams run before I start and pick up their 

10 lb bag of shredded mozzarella cheese and 5 lb bag of pepperoni. 

It's also a great place to get a huge can of tomato sauce if that isnt a pantry staple. 

I make a huge batch of dough, enough for 10 pizzas. I use the dollar stores non disposable round pizza pans. I roll the dough out and bake it until it is just cooked, but still not golden or crisp. I remove, let it cool, and then top with sauce, cheese and pepperoni. 

I freeze it until it is solid, about 4 hours, then remove it from the freezer, lift it off the baking pan,  and wrap it really well in plastic wrap. Return to the freezer where it sits until you are ready to eat it. 

The huge bag of pepperoni is enough for about 20 pizza so feel free to pick up two bags of cheese or freeze the leftover pepperoni until next time.

Bake the pizzas from frozen at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden. 

My Pizza Recipe is here

Pizza Bread

1 recipe pizza dough

Pizza Sauce (I used leftover spaghetti sauce this time)

8 - 12 oz. grated cheddar cheese

1 c. chopped pepperoni or turkey pastrami

Grated Parmesan cheese

Roll the dough out so it is long and thin, 

about 8 inches wide by about 18 inches long. 

Spread with the sauce, 

sprinkle with the cheddar and dust with the Parmesan, 

then sprinkle with the pepperoni or pastrami.  

Starting at one side roll the dough up like a cinnamon roll. 

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 

anywhere between 30 - 45 minutes,  

until the top is darker than golden brown, but not charred. 

Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

Pizza Bites

 (They don't look like much, don't let that fool you)

These are simple little pizza bites that are great for a fun kids dinner, a picnic, or as an appetizer. We LOVED them. Feel free to play around with different toppings in the center. Whatever you normally like on your pizza will be good. Next time I am going to try meat lovers, and add sausage and bacon. 

I also want to freeze some and see how they do. I will update later with the results. If it works this would be a great treat to have on hand to pull out for quick snacks. UPDATE: They worked great frozen. I froze them overnight and then I microwaved one from frozen and it got hard as a rock. But I defrosted the rest, and that only took 30 minutes, and then microwaved it for 20 seconds and it was warm and soft. So it takes a little pre planning to eat them from frozen, but not too much.I just put them flat on a tray and froze them until they where solid, about 2hours, and then put them in a freezer safe plastic bag.

You can use whatever dough and sauce recipe you prefer but I have included mine as well, just in case. 

I don't remember the pkg size of the pepperoni, it said it had 90 pepperoni. After the 48 reserved, I think it was about 3/4 c. chopped.

1 batch pizza dough

1 Batch Sauce

1 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 1/4c. cheddar cheese, shredded

2 pkg pepperoni

1/4lb deli sliced turkey pastrami

 1/2 bell pepper, chopped

Reserve 48 pepperoni's. Chop remaining pepperoni and turkey pastrami. Mix the mozzarella, cheddar, pepperoni, pastrami, and bell pepper. When the sauce is cooled add it to the cheese mix. 

Roll the dough out really thin and cut into 2 inch squares. Spray 4 mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Press one dough square into each muffin cup. Fill with cheese and sauce mixture. Top each cup with one reserved pepperoni. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or just until the dough looks cooked. Let cool in pan ten minutes before removing.

Makes 4 dozen.