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I know that it may only be Thursday, but I am preparing you guys for Friday.
No but really, I am posting this specifically on Thursday so you can make this tomorrow.
It is a must.
Ready for another “when I was growing up” story?
Well, I still feel like I am growing up. Probably because I totally am, but you get the point. Anyway, this pasta is hands down one of my favorite dinners. Yes, I say this a lot, BUT this pasta will always, always, be something I love to death. Everybody loves this pasta. Ok, not the meat-eating brothers because the only meat on this pasta is the pepperoni and that just does not cut it for them. Like I say all the time, their loss. Except Brendan, this is his favorite, but he loves all food…..
Of course, I almost never get to cook for him because is off flipping upside down through the air somewhere. Figures.
Alright, so I think we all get by now that I was a pretty weird kid (still am, but I am kind of not considered a kid anymore). All throughout school when kids were going out on Friday nights I was probably home hanging with my family and eating this.
A lot of Fridays I would force myself to hang out with my friends because one, I did actually like them, and two, if I did not devote a little time to them outside of school I would not have any friends to hang with at school. I mean, it’s a two-way street, so I had to play my part, at least a little. Ok, that sounds bad. What I am trying to say is that even though I loved my friends, I still also really loved being at home with my family. Sometimes I would do a fun Friday night with friends and then the next week I would just stay home and chill out.
Still sounds totally weird, but what’s new.
Whatever I did though, this was almost always dinner on Friday night. Sometimes we would switch it up and do homemade pizza, but this pasta would then get made on Saturday.
I am not really sure when my dad actually started making this pasta, but he has made it for as long as I can remember. I am also not sure how it came to be, but my guess is he just started throwing some things in a baking dish and called it a day. To be honest, it is never made the exact some way twice. This is one of those dishes that normally does not have any measurements involved and things are just thrown in, tossed together and then loaded with cheese.
Also if I am being honest, no one will ever be able to make this as good as my dad. I have tried, over and over again, but for some reason his version always comes out better every single time. Sure, I can make a lot of things, and a lot of them I can probably do better than my dad, but this is just not one of them. Pasta and eggs are his thing.
A few key ingredients?
1.) Pasta
2.) Good olive oil
3.) Tons of mozzarella cheese
4.) Red bell peppers (most important)
This is one of the most simple pastas you will ever make. It requires dirtying only two dishes. One is the pot to boil the water in, the other is the dish to bake the pasta in.
Super simple because who the heck wants anything complicated on Friday night? Not me that is for sure.
The prep time on this is twenty minutes, TOPS. And that is only if you are slow.
But it does require baking for at least 45 minutes. This is key if you want the peppers to get all roasted and delicious and trust me YOU DO. Nothing is better than those peppers sitting on top. I am known to pick off all the peppers and leave everyone else with none. Sorry, I can’t help it. They are my favorite part.
Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 709 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound angel hair pasta
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to your liking
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives halved
- 1/3 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes drained of excess oil
- 2 tablespoons pickled pepperoncinis optional
- 15 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
- 3-4 red bell peppers sliced
- Pepperonis
- 2-4 ounces parmesan cheese freshly grated
- Freshly torn basil for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta until al dente. Drain well.
- While the water comes to a boil add the olive oil (make sure the oil covers the entire bottom of the baking dish, if not add more oil), dried basil, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried dill, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. To the baking dish add three fourths of the pasta, the olives, sun-dried tomatoes and pepperoncinis. Toss well until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Drizzle the pasta with a little of the reserved oil from the sun-dried tomato jar. If pasta seems a little oily add in a little more angel hair or if you would like to use all the pasta be sure to add more oil to evenly coat all the pasta.
- Add 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese and then scatter the sliced red peppers over top. At this point it will seem like there are too many peppers, but this is fine. They will cook down.
- Sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and evenly place the pepperonis on top. Sprinkle on top 2-4 ounces of parmesan and another drizzle of olive oil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until the top is browned and the peppers have softened. Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh basil and more parmesan. Cut and eat!
Oh and obviously, this dish is good any night of the week, but it is extra delicious on Fridays, because well it is Friday… and everything is better on Friday.
HEY GUYS, I NEED YOUR HELP!!
Better Homes and Gardens has nominated Half Baked Harvest as one of the top 5 Food: Family/Everyday Eats blogs. Between now and March 5 voting will take place to decide who is number one. Here’s the catch, you can vote every HOUR until 3/5/14. Â Â I would be so appreciative if you could take the time to check out all the bloggers and vote for your favorite… as often as you can between now and then. Thanks for all your support, you guys are why I love doing what I do! Â Â Â Â VOTE HERE
I’ve been scouring cookbooks and blogs for something to make for my eight boy friends, who are all home for reading break and want me to cook for them. This is the perfect pasta dish for hungry young men. Thank you for sharing it!
Oh! Hope they all love it!
I can already tell this will be a regular meal at our house. I made it last night (Friday, obviously) and my family inhaled it! Thanks so much – LOVE this one
YAY!! Thank you so much, Julie! So happy you guys loved it!
I love the growing up stories! I was very similar, I’d do my part in hanging out with friends during high school (and I did like them!) but most of the time I’d prefer to be at home. Not much has changed really! This looks like a wonderfully easy and tasty dish, great for after a long day. Easily vegetarian-ified too!
Thanks Lily!! And this is great with and without the pepperonis!
This was perfect to have ready this weekend when we got a foot of snow. Delicious, and easily adaptable. I used red and yellow peppers and linguini and oven-dried tomatoes from my garden, since that’s what I had. And left out the pepperoni — I’ve been a vegetarian for 25 years. I think next time I’d add a little garlic and onion. Maybe even some artichoke hearts. The possibilities are endless! But as is, it was a perfectly delicious treat to have with a glass of wine after clearing snow for two hours. Thanks for the recipe!
So happy you loved this!! And artichokes are typically added to this over here too! I forgot them in the recipe, but am adding them now!
That is one lovely casserole dish full of pasta.
Thanks! A dish full is pasta is always good!
What a great looking pasta dish! Isn’t it amazing how we can never seem to perfectly recreate dishes our parents made/make for us?! It’s like they purposely leave out an ingredient or step when they tell us their recipe, haha. And these photos are gorgeous!
Haha! THanks Chris!
This pasta looks colorful enough to please kids. Its easy and simple, hence bookmarking!!
Thanks Shibi!! This is one my brothers will actually eat!!
I have a crisper full of red peppers. I am making this delicious looking dish on Sunday night. Can’t wait!
Thanks Kaye!! Hope you love it!!
This looks absolutely delicious!! I will definetly make this!
Thanks Marry! Hope you love it!
looks amazing! Congrats for your nomination, I voted!
Jenna
Thank you so very much, Jenna! Hope you have a great weekend!
Why wait till Friday? I want to make this NOWWW
Agree! 🙂
Yum! This looks like a kind of dish that I would have multiple servings of!
Thanks Lauren! Multiple servings are a must!
Love that last picture. What a great shot!
Thank you so much, Sarah!
Oh, my word! That is one amazing pasta dish! Seriously gorgeous…of course I think I say that about all your food 🙂 And congratulations for being nominated for BHG…you are one crazy talented girl!!!
Thank you so much, Jocelyn!! That means so much from you!
OHMYGOSHTHISLOOKSSOGOOD!
Thanks Amanda!!