Microwave pizza pasta
Penne tossed in pizza sauce with pepperoni and a blanket of melted mozzarella, everything you love about a pepperoni pizza in one bowl for under two dollars.
- 20 min total
- 8 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 1
- About $1.65 a serving
- 590 calories
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
For 1 servings.
- ¾ cup penne
- ⅓ cup pizza sauce
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella, divided
- 1 oz sliced pepperoni, about 14 slices
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ cups water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch Italian seasoning
Each serving has about 590 calories, 29 g protein, 56 g carbs and 26 g fat, and costs about $1.65 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No penne? Rigatoni or elbow macaroni works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the penne, water and salt in a large microwave-safe bowl, set it on a plate, and microwave 4 minutes.
Timer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: Use your biggest bowl. Pasta water foams up high in the microwave.Stir, then microwave in 2-minute bursts, each time, until the pasta is tender with a little bite, 4 to 6 minutes more.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Timer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: Fish out a piece and bite it. If there’s a white, chalky dot in the middle, it needs another burst.off the water, holding the pasta back with the fork.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Stir in the pizza sauce, Italian seasoning and half the mozzarella.
Tear most of the pepperoni into pieces and stir them in, saving a few whole slices for the top.
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Scatter the rest of the mozzarella over the top and lay the whole pepperoni slices on it.
Microwave 1½ minutes, until the cheese is and the pepperoni curls at the edges.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 1 min 30 sec
Sprinkle with the parmesan and eat it hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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