Everyone in my family loves pizza, but not everyone loves pasta … my daughter, Kylie, has never been a lover of pasta. Dennis and I love it, however, and could eat it a couple times per week.

I decided for dinner tonight I would combine pizza and pasta and make this all in the skillet on top of the stove. My hope was that if I prepared a pasta that tasted a little like pizza, I may find a pasta dish that Kylie would enjoy with us.

Fusilli was my noodle of choice and the meats I used for my pizza pasta were Italian sausage and pepperoni. (I baked the sausage links in the oven first and then sliced them.) Who doesn’t love a sausage and pepperoni pizza?

I added onion and green pepper as well as a few seasonings – kosher salt, oregano, basil and crushed red pepper flakes. I also added grated parmesan cheese as well as mozzarella cheese. I chose to use low fat mozzarella cheese, but you can use whole milk mozzarella if you desire. I will choose to use lower fat dairy 95% of the time. My one exception is when I am having guests for dinner. But, for everyday meals, I choose to eat lower fat … and definitely lower sodium.

I added my sausage and pepperoni after the sauce had simmered for just a couple minutes.

Once the noodles were done, I added them to my sauce. Before stirring everything together, I added the mozzarella cheese. I wanted the cheese to stick to the noodles a bit before stirring everything together.

Ingredients

• 16 ounces fusilli pasta

• 3 Italian sausage links

• pepperoni

• 16 ounce jar pizza sauce

• 18 ounce jar marinara sauce

• 1/2 onion, diced

• 1 green pepper, diced

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 teaspoon basil

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/3 cup grated parmesan

• 1/2 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella

Directions

Cook sausage links in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Slice the links and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Sauté onion and green pepper until they start to soften (4-6 minutes). Pour marinara and pizza sauce into skillet with onion and pepper.  Add oregano, basil, salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer together for 5 minutes. Add grated parmesan cheese and sliced sausages, as well as pepperoni. Turn to medium-low and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add drained, cooked noodles to the sauce and stir. Add mozzarella cheese and serve. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris