I know that it may only be Thursday, but I am preparing you guys for Friday.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

No but really, I am posting this specifically on Thursday so you can make this tomorrow.

It is a must.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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)

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

Super simple because who the heck wants anything complicated on Friday night? Not me that is for sure.

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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 | halfbakedharvest.com

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4.12 from 105 votes

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

The Recipe

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish

By halfbakedharvest

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta, pasta bake

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.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 520 kcal

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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!

Dad's Friday Night Pasta Dish | halfbakedharvest.com

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.

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