Two-Crust Pizza Casserole

This dish doesn't involve the slow cooker, but I did find it in my Slow Cooker Recipes book (go figure).  It took me a while to make it -- because you are making the dough/crust from scratch. It might be easier to buy Pillsbury dough rolls like I do for my taco bake. But it turned out well. I rarely use any other meat besides ground beef & chicken, so the italian sausage was a hit! I ate the leftovers for lunch all week. It was DELICIOUS.

I use whole wheat flour, so the color/texture looks different. But I still really love the taste. It's not the healthiest dish I've made to date. I've thought about just using the hot italian sausage and replacing the ground beef with some type of beans to keep the fat count down. But I don't know if that will taste as good. Another change you can make that might improve the dish is to use less olives. The recipe calls for a whole can, but I would use less then that. The olive taste soaks into the dish and I don't enjoy that flavor too much.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups packaged instant mashed potatoes
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound italian sausage
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 1/2 a package of sloppy joe seasoning mix
• 1 tablespoon pizza seasoning
• 12 oz can of olives, drained & sliced
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal

Directions:

1. Preheat ove to 425 degrees.
2. For crust, combine flour, potatoes, milk, and butter. Set aside.
3. For filling, in a 12 inch skillet cook beef, sausage, and onion until meat is brown & onions are tender.
4. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasoning mix, and olives.
5. 
   
6. Press half the dough into the bottom 13 x 9  baking pan and up the sides.
7. Spread filling over crust.
8. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese.
9. Top with the rest of the dough to seal in the filling.
10. Sprinkle with cornmeal.
11. Bake in a 425 degrees oven for 35 minutes until golden brown.

Gerald likes to eat it Lancaster County-Stye with a side of apple sauce!

Makes about 8 servings!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!