Cavatini

See this super happy face?  The Little Guy is a big fan of this recipe!!

I'm a little embarrassed at how long it's been since I actually made a meal in my kitchen.  I do have some excuses but those won't last forever!  The cross-country move followed by the 1st trimester combination did nothing to help my cause!  And neither has the extended stay with family over the holidays.

My Mom made this favorite for us a couple of weeks ago and I love it because it is yummy, easy, adaptable and kid friendly!  We're at the weird age when we'll eat for lunch what we won't eat for dinner.  Also the "I know what the flash is so I'm going to close my eyes" in almost every picture.  I'm choosing to embrace it otherwise I'll have no pictures of the Little Guy from this stage.

Cavatini is an easy pasta recipe.  You can switch up the ingredients and add things that you like and take away things you don't.  But here is my basic recipe.

Cavatini

3 cups of dry pasta
2 cups mozzarella cheese (separated)
1 package pepperoni
1 small can of mushrooms
1 small can of ripe olives
a jar of pasta sauce

Mix all of the ingredients together but reserve 1/2 of the cheese.  Place ingredients in a baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

As usual you get simple and yummy all in the same recipe!  You could add any pizza topping that you like to this recipe because it's basically pizza pasta!  I suggest using shells and spiral pasta especially if you are serving to children.  They are easy to pick up.  Plus we convinced my niece that she was eating "boats" and "slinkys" and all of the sudden dinner was much more appealing!

When I was a kid my Mom served this in little individual casserole dishes.  That is a fun way to serve too, just be careful because the dishes get really hot!

I hope you enjoy this easy recipe as much as the Little Guy and I do!