I love pizza and I love spaghetti so why not mix the two? Tonight Oliver had swimming lessons making for a late dinner and a desperate need for food to be ready the minute we walked in the door. So I pulled out the new crock pot my mom gave me for Christmas and made this delicious pizza casserole! Buying spaghetti sauce involved reading labels when it was just my allergies because many have dairy in them but I really liked most of the Ragu flavors so I have been using that brand for the last 5-6 years. Now with Lola's soy allergy I've had to find a new sauce which hasn't been easy. Don't get me wrong, there are some decent options out there, they just happen to be more expensive ones and aren't exactly the cheap, off brand ones I usually gravitate to in order to save some money. Lately I've been enjoying some of Classico's flavors but they are $2 a jar and I'm used to paying only $1 a jar. This week I found my $1 sauce though! Target's Market Pantry brand sauce has soy oil in it....unless you buy the 23.5 oz jar of traditional sauce that says "heart healthy" on it. For some reason this one specifies canola oil instead the dreaded "and/or soy oil" language which is awesome! The regular traditional one had the "and/or soy oil" language on it so you have to be super careful and again....read labels!! Tonight I used the "heart healthy" sauce for this awesome dish. I accidentally bought spicy sausage so it was a little on the spicy side but Oliver was a good sport about it.
Crock Pot Pizza Casserole
Yield: 8-10 servings
-1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce (beware of soy oil and dairy, see above)
-2 packages (8 oz each) of fresh baby Bella mushrooms, washed sliced and cooked.
-1 lb. ground sausage, cooked
-1 package (6 oz) pepperoni (We like Hormel because it's labeled gluten free.)
-1 package (8 oz) Daiya mozzarella shreds
Yield: 8-10 servings
-1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce (beware of soy oil and dairy, see above)
-2 packages (8 oz each) of fresh baby Bella mushrooms, washed sliced and cooked.
-1 lb. ground sausage, cooked
-1 package (6 oz) pepperoni (We like Hormel because it's labeled gluten free.)
-1 package (8 oz) Daiya mozzarella shreds
-1 lb gluten free spaghetti cooked to package directions and well rinsed (I prefer a 100% corn one when its going in the crock pot or oven for further cooking. Rice or rice blends seem to get mushy. Tonight I used rigatoni by Sam Mills.)
Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of your crock pot. This helps prevent that first layer of noodles from sticking to the bottom. Then proceed with these layers: half of the noodles on top of the sauce, half of the mushrooms, half of the pepperoni, half of the sausage, half of the cheese, the remainder of the noodles, then sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage and finally cheese. Put the lid on and cook on low for 4 hours. I wouldn't cook it much longer than that because the noodles can start to get mushy. It's a bummer gluten free noodles don't hold up as well as wheat ones do in these types of dishes.
Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of your crock pot. This helps prevent that first layer of noodles from sticking to the bottom. Then proceed with these layers: half of the noodles on top of the sauce, half of the mushrooms, half of the pepperoni, half of the sausage, half of the cheese, the remainder of the noodles, then sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage and finally cheese. Put the lid on and cook on low for 4 hours. I wouldn't cook it much longer than that because the noodles can start to get mushy. It's a bummer gluten free noodles don't hold up as well as wheat ones do in these types of dishes.
Tonight we paired this pizza casserole with a salad and this homemade French dressing along with a side of grapes.
Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.
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