Spiralized Pepperoni Pizza Bake

Summer cooking is my FAVORITE type of cooking.  All the veggies I love are in season, and the farmer’s markets are bursting with so much color.

Here in Colorado, I stop by my local market on Sundays and they have a special where you can fill a bag of veggies for $10. TEN DOLLARS for all that you can fit into the bag.  Over the years, I’ve become pretty amazing at executing a championship-level, Tetris style bag.  This week, I was able to score a sweet potato and some fresh basil, amidst all of the other beautiful broccoli, spinach, beets, tomatoes, peppers, and more.

My challenge for the week following is to figure out how to use up all of my goodies before they spoil.  Of course, I hit up Pinterest to see what I’ve saved to my Healthy Recipes to Try Pinterest board.

Having just made mini pizzas for a little friend who spent the night this week, I had leftover pepperoni and sauce in the fridge, so this was the perfect recipe to use up the leftover ingredients!

A healthier twist on pizza, this Inspiralized recipe did not disappoint.  I did modify it a little bit, however.  I used much less cheese than the original to keep the calorie count down.  I’ll definitely be making this one again!

Spiralized Pepperoni Pizza Bake

Adapted from Inspiralized

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1/2 medium sweet potato, peeled and spiralized

cooking spray

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup marinara sauce (I like Rao’s)

1/8 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

5 turkey pepperoni slices

1/2 Tbsp. chiffonade basil, to garnish

1 tsp. grated parmesan cheese, to garnish (optional)

red pepper flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and grease a 10” cast-iron skillet or square casserole dish. Prepare with cooking spray, if appropriate for your selected pan.

2.  Place a large skillet over medium-high heat prepared with cooking spray.  Add in the sweet potato noodles and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Let cook for about 5 minutes or until noodles begin to soften.  Note:  I used the blade that creates potato ribbons.  Feel free to make noodles, if preferred.

3.  Transfer the cooked noodles to the skillet, prepared with cooking spray.

4.  Pour over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the tomato sauce evenly and then layer over with the mozzarella cheese. Place the pepperoni slices on top in rows.

5.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until cheese melts through and is slightly golden brown.

6.  Remove from the oven, garnish with basil ribbons, parmesan cheese, and crushed red pepper, if desired.

Per entire recipe serving: