Venison Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Bake

Written by Sophie May on January 11, 2023 in All, All Posts, Big Game Recipes, Hunting, Venison Recipes

This Venison Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Bake is SUPER easy AND delicious.

This recipe came about because I got home from work and didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I was tired. I didn’t want to go to the grocery store for extra ingredients on my way home from work. I really just wanted something easy.

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are common pantry/fridge items. This is also a recipe that is super budget friendly. AND it doesn’t sacrifice taste.

You can jazz this recipe up by using a fancier pasta like I did or making your own pasta sauce. Neither is required though.

You can make this recipe as saucy or as cheesy as you desire. This is one of those recipes that you cannot mess up. And, again, it is so easy.

As I try to emphasize… Cooking with wild game does not have to be hard or fried. This is a quick and tasty meal that everyone will love.

Give this Venison Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Bake a try and let me know what ya think! ENJOY!

Print Recipe

Venison Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Bake

This easy week night meal is sure to be a family dinner staple.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Easy, Ground Venison, Italian, Italian Sausage, Pasta, Venison

Servings: people*

Author: Sophie May

Equipment

Casserole dish
Blender

Ingredients

12 oz favorite pasta shells** cooked and drained
1 lb Venison Italian Sausage cooked, crumbled, excess oil drained
3 oz pepperoni about half a bag (or more)
12 oz mozzarella or more for more cheesiness
Italian seasoning for topping
~28 oz Pasta Sauce***

Instructions

If you haven't done so all ready, cook your Italian sausage. Do this by heating 2T of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Break up your sausage as it cooks. Drain any excess oil once done cooking.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
If you are making your own pasta sauce, do so now. How I made mine is in the notes section below.
In a blender pulse together the sausage and sauce. I do this to create a meat sauce. However, if you like your sausage chunkier, you can combine the sauce and meat in a bowl instead (less dishes too!).
In your casserole dish, place a thin layer of sauce. Sprinkle some of the cheese over it. Add half of your pepperonis.
Combine remaining sauce and pasta.
Add the pasta to the dish. Cover with mozzarella and remaining pepperonis. Top with Italian seasoning for extra flavor.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. For added crisp, bake on broil for 3-5 minutes or until desired crispiness. ENJOY!

Notes

*I use 2 small casserole dishes when making this. I eat one the day I make it and then before it goes in the oven, I cover the other in aluminum foil to bake later in the week for a second meal.

**I used Gourmet Texas Pasta's Pizza Pasta Shells.

*** To make my sauce I used:

28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

2-3 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion

salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, onion powder, red pepper flakes, sugar all to taste. Blend together in a blender.

I left it on the more tomato-er side because my Italian sausage has a lot of flavor, so when pulsed together, the sauce picks up a ton of that seasoning.