Pizza Casserole

Have you ever heard of Pizza Casserole? It sounds so crazy that it just might work! And the people over at 12 Tomatoes say it tastes just like the real thing.

Yep, it's true! Some recipe dynamos out there have invented pizza casserole. Instead of a bread crust at the bottom, they're using bow tie or spiral pasta! We're intrigued. Could this really taste just like pizza? Except for the pasta, the ingredients are all quite familiar, and even the pepperoni is there! And wow, it really does sound GOOD!Where does pizza come from anyway? When and where in the world was it first created? It wasn't the United States although Americans have definitely put their own special spin on pizza! If you order pizza in Europe, you're in for a big surprise because it is actually very different from the pizza we all know and love in North America. It's still really delicious, mind you, but it's just very different!

Pizza hails from Italy and it's the second most favourite Italian food next to pasta! Although it cannot be proven, it's widely believed that the word �pizza� comes from the Latin �pinsa�, which means �flatbread�. There's an old tale that Italian soldiers who were occupying Palestine developed a taste for Jewish unleavened bread or �Matzoths� and came up with something similar when they went back home. Recently, though, archaeological digs have uncovered a �Bronze Age Pizza� in the region of Veneto. Imagine, folks ate pizzas as far back as the Bronze Age? Wow!

The modern day pizza took many years to become what it is today. And now we're combining the two most favourite Italian foods � pasta and pizza � into one most amazing dish. We're excited to try this one, aren't you?

Cheese is a food that is derived from milk and produced in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It uses the proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During cheese production, the milk is usually acidified, and adding the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. Some cheeses have molds on the rind or throughout. Most cheeses melt at cooking temperature. Hundreds of types of cheese from various countries are produced, the styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk, whether they have been pasteurized, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and aging.

Tomatoes are grown and eaten around the world. They are used in diverse ways, including raw in salads, and processed into ketchup or tomato soup. Unripe green tomatoes can also be breaded and fried, used to make salsa, or pickled. Tomato juice is sold as a drink, and is used in cocktails such as the Bloody Mary. Tomatoes are acidic, making them especially easy to preserve in home canning whole in recipes such as tomato sauce or paste.