Pizza Supreme Spaghetti

If you are feeling bored with plain old spaghetti, this recipe might just perk you up (it should at least make the kids happy.....)  Not only does it add some interest to an otherwise kind of blah meal, you'll also up the health quotient by packing in lots of nice veggies!

The basic idea is to take your favorite pizza supreme ingredients and put them into the pasta sauce instead of on a pizza. Not necessarily the most ingenious of recipes, I know. But it is just different enough to be interesting-- especially to kids. It also doesn't hurt if you say "pizza" . And it allows you to put lots of veggies in without the family rebelling too much. Our picky eater actually ate his whole dinner with NO complaints tonight... YAY!!!

Below is my version. We went with sausage, tomatoes, olives and artichoke hearts. I don't really care for bell peppers so I didn't include them but they would go really well here as well. Just be sure to saute them (or any onions or garlic you might use) prior to adding to the sauce or they'll be too crunchy!

Recipe: Pizza Supreme Spaghetti

12 oz  pasta (I used whole foods 365 whole wheat spaghetti but penne could also go well here)
25 oz jar tomato sauce (I used wf 365 organic tomato sauce "classic" flavor)
14.5 can diced tomatoes, drained
14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained & quartered (if uncut)
2.25 oz can sliced black olives
12-16 oz mild italian pork sausage

Pasta:
1) Start by heating water for pasta. Follow manufacturer's preparation instructions.

Sauce:
2)  Remove any casings from the sausages before cooking! In a large, high sided pan, cook loose sausage meat as you would ground beef. Be sure to cook through completely!
2) Add in jar of tomato sauce with cooked sausage.
3) Add in drained veggies

Simmering sauce

4) Simmer on low until pasta is done cooking.
5) Drain cooked pasta.
6) Combine drained pasta with sauce, mix thoroughly to combine.
7) Serve with grated parmesan for a traditional approach or go wild and top with shredded mozzarella for the full pizza effect!

Dish finished with parmesan

Left overs freeze well! This makes 2 full dinners for our little family or 1 dinner and 4-ish single lunch portions for the freezer. If you prefer your pasta super sauce-y use 8 oz of pasta instead of 12. If you prefer less sauce & more pasta, go with 16 oz.

Bonus Tip: If you run out of grated parmesan sprinkles but have shredded parmesan and a mini food processor (I used a magic bullet) you can quickly turn your shreds into sprinkles! It didn't get gummy or clumpy. I did take care to pulse it quickly for just a minute--until I could see the whirling parmesan pieces were getting light & fluffy like snow flakes.


Comment below and let me know how this recipe worked for you!

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