This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sargento Foods, Inc. for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Getting tired of cold sandwiches and canned soup for lunch? Â Sargento Cheese is encouraging us to take a real lunch. Â Mid-day meals don’t have to be hurried, grab-whatever-you-can-find affairs. Â Slow down and plan a real lunch.
This Easy Pizza Rice Casserole uses a few quick ingredients. Â If you have leftover rice, it’s even quicker. Â The Italian Sausage and zucchini make for a hearty lunch. Â The dish gets topped with slices of Sargento provolone cheese. Â Who can resist a cheese topped casserole?
Pizza Rice Casserole can be made for lunch at home, but it also travels well if you’re sharing at the office. Â Or if you need to pack it up, use a soup thermos to keep it hot until lunch time. Â Guaranteed to cause lunch-envy in everyone around you!
Pair this casserole with a green salad tossed with oil and vinegar dressing.
I adapted this recipe from the More with Less Cookbook. Â I used instant brown rice, to make things quicker. Â Instant brown rice has all the nutrition of the long-cooking variety, but can be made in 5 or 10 minutes. Â I also added chopped zucchini and swapped out the ground beef for more flavorful Italian sausage.
Easy Pizza Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups instant brown rice
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 lb. ground Italian Sausage
- 1 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 zucchini chopped
- 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 16 oz cottage cheese
- 5 slices Sargento provolone cheese
Instructions
- Cook brown rice in water according to package directions.
- Brown sausage, onion and garlic in skillet over medium heat until sausage is cooked fully.
- Add zucchini to the skillet 5 or 7 minutes before sausage is done.
- Drain meat and rinse with hot water to remove extra grease.
- Return meat to the skillet.
- Stir in tomato sauce and oregano.
- Stir cottage cheese into cooked rice.
- Pour rice into greased casserole dish.
- Top with meat mixture.
- Place Sargento cheese slices over top of meat.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until hot.
Sargento Natural Cheese comes in many varieties.  My cheese drawer almost always has several types.  We especially love the ultra-thin slices.
What’s your favorite kind of real lunch?
My husband would flip over this!
I have a similar recipe that we like, but I love this healthier version using brown rice and zucchini!