Best 2 Italian Bake Casserole Recipes

ITALIAN CRESCENT BAKE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a pie pan with cooking spray. Saute the ground beef in a frying pan. When browned stir in the spaghetti sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes and remove from heat.
• 2. While the ground beef is browning open the crescent rolls. Unroll them and fill the pie pan in a spoke pattern laying the thickest end on the bottom of the pie pan. Leave a 3 inch overhang on the sides to cover the top with.
• 3. Spread 1¼ cups of the mozzarella cheese on top of the crescent rolls. Top with the ground beef mixture. Fold over the crescent rolls and pinch the ends together in the center. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over the crescent rolls, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
• 4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

ITALIAN BAKE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. In large skillet, cook Italian sausage until slices are no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
• 2. Remove sausage from the skillet and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the drippings.
• 3. In skillet, saute mushrooms, onions, bell pepper and garlic just under tender-crisp.
• 4. In large bowl, combine sausage, mushrooms, bell pepper mixture, stewed tomatoes, Italian seasoning.
• 5. Place a layer of pasta on the bottom of dish. Spoon mixture into a greased 3-quart or 9x13 baking dish. Add half of the mozzarella cheese and repeat layers.
• 6. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining cheese over top of casserole and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted on top.
• 7. Variation: I always use spaghetti sauce instead of the Italian stewed tomatoes and season to my taste. I cook the sausage, onions, peppers and add to the spaghetti sauce. The sauce is cooked for 4 to 5 hours in the crock-pot and then layered in a casserole or 9x13 baking dish. I tend to use 2 cups of cheese because we are cheese lovers. To change the taste I will vary the cheese with the shredded Italian blend cheese along with the mozzarella cheese. I cook this until the casserole is heated throughout and the cheese is bubbling and melted.