Pepperoni and Olive Penne Pasta

This hot pepperoni and olive penne pasta uses a few ingredients but has many ways to build on the flavor. Add regular pizza toppings such as sausage, bacon, bell peppers, spinach, or mushrooms to customize it!

Today we’ll be making an easy, hot pepperoni and olive pasta meal. There are plenty of ways to add to it using regular supreme pizza toppings like Italian sausage, bell peppers, bacon, mushrooms, spinach and fresh basil.  I usually add in mushrooms and spinach but stick with what suits you. The pasta can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be!

If you’re a fan of supreme or pepperoni pizza, you will love this pasta. I’ve done a casserole version of this before with pizza pasta casserole, but here’s a much easier version that doesn’t require an oven. So today I’ve included a base recipe with many ways to build on it and customize it to your tastes. Let’s get started.

PEPPERONI AND OLIVE PENNE PASTA RECIPE TIPS

Pasta – I used penne pasta but any kind of tubular pasta will work just as well. You can also use bowties, fusilli, corkscrews, shells, elbows, or long pasta like spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine and angel hair.

Onions and garlic – I highly recommend using fresh onions and garlic, but if can substitute this with onion and garlic powder.

Olives – I’ve used both black olives and kalamata olives in the past so feel free to experiment and see which one you prefer. The black olives will feel more at home with those used to supreme pizza but the kalamatas have a bit more flavor and feel more authentic.

Tomatoes – Feel free to substitute the petite diced tomatoes with fire-roasted or regular chopped tomatoes. The recipe is forgiving as long as you have some kind of tomatoes to add some bulk to the sauce.

Marinara sauce – Use storebought marinara sauce, or if you want to add even more depth of flavor to the pasta sauce, try some homemade marinara sauce.

Use whatever you have in your pantry with that recipe as a guide on how to build on the sauce. For example, I used beef bouillon cubes to add more beefy flavor, sugar to balance out the tartness from the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce to add more depth and onion powder/garlic powder/red pepper flakes for some kick the last few times I made this.

And that’s about it. Enjoy, happy cooking and let me know how you liked it and what substitutions you made in the comments below.

MORE PASTA RECIPES TO TRY

• Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
• Pizza Pasta Casserole
• Meatball Pasta Bake
• Lasagna Roll-Ups
• Cheesy Hot Italian Sausage Bake

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