Crowd Pleasing Cavatini

It’s less than a week away, people!  Fall is upon us, and in my kitchen, Fall is spelled C-O-M-F-O-R-T F-O-O-D.  Hot soups, bread, and meaty casseroles.  Yum!

Here it is.  My all-time favorite casserole.  This stuff is so flavorful, easy to put together, and feeds a crowd.  I’m talking 16 adult servings!

Crowd Pleasing Cavatini

• 6 oz. shell pasta
• 8 oz. curly pasta
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 small can mushrooms, chopped
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 32 oz. spaghetti sauce
• 4 oz. diced deli ham
• 3 oz. diced pepperoni
• 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 16 oz. mozzarella cheese
• 4 oz. parmesan cheese

Boil the pasta until just underdone, drain and rinse.  Saute the onion, green pepper and mushrooms in the butter.

Brown the hamburger in a large stockpot.  Drain.  Stir in to hamburger the saute mixture, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, ham, pepperoni, salt, pepper and oregano.  Add pasta.  Stir well.  Layer meat mixture and cheeses.  Repeat layers.  Bake 30 minutes at 350.

A few things…

• Do not use a 9×13 pan unless you enjoy scraping boiled over burned food off of the bottom of your oven.  I prefer an 11×15 pan for company, or I split the recipe into three smaller pans for my family.
• If you’re splitting your recipe into smaller pans, check out my freezer post for a handy tip.
• The only way to mess this up is to overcook the pasta (no one likes mushy pasta.)   Don’t do that!  Undercook it, just a little.  It will finish cooking in the oven.

Cavatini tastes great with a green salad, green beans, corn, and fresh bread.  Tonight I served it with these breadsticks.  Yum!

A comfort food crowd pleaser.  Works for me!

*** Psssst… Life as Mom is hosting a Fall Recipe Swap today (Thursday).  Go check it out!