This is a very simple take on a baked penne dish.

If we wanted to go out to eat a “fancier” dinner while in college, we went to a locally owned Italian restaurant. It was always amazing food and a great time. My girlfriend (now wife) loved their baked penne dish. This recipe was inspired by that but in a simpler fashion so it goes together a little quicker and with ingredients we usually have around the house.

Recipe Ingredients

• 12 ounces pasta (ziti or penne), dry
• 24-30 ounces spaghetti sauce
• ¹⁄₂ medium onion
• 80 grams pepperoni
• 30 grams parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
• 130 grams white cheese (such as provolone, mozzarella, monterey jack…), sliced or shredded

Recipe Directions

Preparations

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (F)
2. Boil 12 ounces of ziti or penne pasta until al dente reserving ¹⁄₂ cup of pasta water
3. Chop 80 ounces of pepperoni into medium sized pieces

Pasta Sauce

1. If you are making homemade pasta sauce, prepare it now.
   1. A link to my recipe is below.
2. Allow homemade sauce to cool slightly

Cooking Instructions

1. Add pasta sauce, chopped pepperoni and 30 grams of shredded or grated parmesan cheese to a large mixing bowl stirring to combine
2. Add cooked pasta to the pasta sauce mixture and stir gently being careful not to break up the pasta
3. Add pasta and sauce mixture to a baking dish
4. Top the pasta and sauce mixture with the sliced or shredded white cheese
5. Bake at 400(F) for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown on top

Notes

Use your favorite spaghetti sauce or use my Spaghetti Sauce recipe.

Revision: 7/7/2023