Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Pasta With All the Toppings and None of the Delivery Wait

6:30 on a Friday, the delivery app open in one hand and the sound of a pot lid rattling in the other. Skip the wait: this cheesy pepperoni pizza pasta is about 18 minutes from the boil to the bowl, and it tastes like the pizza you were about to pay for. It has the good parts only, which is more than most pizza nights can say. Nobody needs to know it started in a pot of water.

Pizza night, with the crust swapped out for pasta and the cheese left in charge.

The recipe is short on purpose. You boil a pound of penne, stir it through jarred marinara and half the pepperoni in a skillet, scatter mozzarella and the rest of the pepperoni over the top, and cover it for three minutes until the cheese melts. Then you season it with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and eat it while it is still stretchy.

How to make it

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the 1 lb penne pasta until al dente, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain the pasta and return it to the skillet.
3. Stir in 1 jar marinara sauce and 3 oz pepperoni, then simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella cheese and the remaining 3 oz pepperoni over the top.
5. Cover the skillet and cook for 3 minutes until the cheese melts.
6. Season with 1 tsp Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper, then serve hot.

Notes

Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. Store the pasta in a covered container once it has cooled.

Day two is softer and a little less saucy, because the pasta keeps absorbing the marinara as it sits. A splash of water or a spoonful of extra marinara before it goes in the microwave brings it back. It will freeze, but the cheese and pasta both change in texture, so it is better eaten fresh than thawed.

Use a large, deep skillet with a lid, because the pasta goes back into it after draining and everything has to fit and be covered. A wide pot with a lid will do the same job if you do not own a skillet that big. The method says to cook the pasta until al dente, about 10 minutes, and since it simmers again with the sauce, lean toward the firmer end of the package range.

The three-minute cover is the step that makes it pizza. Without a lid, the cheese warms but does not melt properly across the top. With one, steam does the work and you get a proper stretch.

On SwipeCart this is the card you swipe right on when the other option is a long wait and a cardboard box, and it arrives before anyone has finished complaining.

Cheesy pepperoni pizza pasta is also a very good dish to make with someone else in the kitchen, since one person can grate and the other can stir, and nobody needs instructions.

Do the grating before the water boils if you are starting from blocks of cheese, and put the pepperoni in two piles, 3 oz for the sauce and 3 oz for the top. The skillet moves quickly once the pasta is drained, and you do not want to be counting slices of pepperoni with a hot pan waiting. Keep the lid within reach too, since it comes out of the cupboard at the exact moment you need both hands for the cheese.

Swaps that actually work

The marinara and the mozzarella are the point of cheesy pepperoni pizza pasta. The sauce is half the flavor, so use one you would eat on its own from a spoon, and use the full 2 cups of mozzarella, shredded.

Penne can be rigatoni, rotini, ziti or shells. Anything with a hollow or a ridge holds sauce well. Think of it as a casting call: the pasta only has to show up and hold the sauce, and SwipeCart will not judge the shape it arrives in.

Low-moisture shredded mozzarella melts reliably here. Fresh mozzarella is soft and wet, and it can leave the dish a bit watery, so it is better saved for a topping you tear on after cooking.

Pepperoni can be turkey pepperoni or can be swapped for cooked sausage, and the Italian seasoning can be swapped for dried oregano with a little basil. Both are fine.

The swap that costs you the dish is skipping the lid. Without the three minutes of steam, the cheese sits on top of the pasta rather than melting into it.

If it goes wrong

The sauce is dry. The pasta kept drinking as it sat. Stir in a splash of the pasta cooking water, or a spoonful more marinara, before the cheese goes on.

The pasta is mushy. It was cooked past al dente before it went into the sauce. Pull it a minute early next time, because it will keep softening in the skillet.

It is flat. Salt is the first thing to check, but because pepperoni and cheese are already salty, taste before you add any. A pinch more Italian seasoning or a few grinds of black pepper often does the job.

The cheese is greasy. Pepperoni releases fat as it heats. Blot the extra from the surface with a paper towel before you serve.

What to serve with it

The default beside cheesy pepperoni pizza pasta is a green salad with a sharp dressing, because the pasta is rich and you want something with a bite.

The better version adds garlic bread, because this is still pizza night and carbs on carbs is the point of it. A handful of torn fresh basil on top costs nothing and looks like you planned it.

The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a handful of baby spinach stirred through the sauce before the cheese goes on, or a shake of red pepper flakes or a drizzle of hot honey, which turns a family pasta into something with an edge.

It makes a good lunch the next day, reheated with a splash of water and a lid.

Why this one earns its place

You can choose between ordering and cooking, and cheesy pepperoni pizza pasta is the dish that makes the choice easy. It has the comfort of takeout and none of the waiting, and you control exactly how much pepperoni goes on top.

Swipe it into the week and the agent can shop the penne, marinara, pepperoni and mozzarella for you. For more of the same energy, one pot cheeseburger pasta takes the same approach to a different takeout order, baked ziti is the oven version of this idea, and quick weeknight dinner ideas has more ways to avoid the delivery app.

More like this: all Italian recipes in Crave Corner.