You can't go wrong with pepperoni

Cavatappi with Pepperoni
Food and Wine Magazine’s Quick From Scratch Pasta Cookbook Copyright 1996,2001,2002,2004

4 ounces thin-sliced pepperoni, slices cut in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups canned tomatoes with their juices (one 16-ounce can)
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ pound cavatappi
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. In a large frying pan, sauté the pepperoni over moderate heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off the fat from the pan and wipe the pan clean.

2. In the same pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up. Add the salt, cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the cavatappi until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce, the pepperoni and the parsley.

Serves 4.

*tap*tap*tap* Is this thing on??? Comments have all but dried up around here since I finished my Christmas baking. Oh well, that doesn't stop me. I know someone is probably reading this. That's what I tell myself anyway.

This dish was a winner in our house. All three of us scarfed it down, but my son just ate the noodles. It was economical too, if you can get pepperoni at a good sale price like I did. I only used a dollar's worth of pepperoni in this dish. The pepperoni packs so much flavor (and sodium) that I resisted the urge I had to sprinkle Parmesan on top of this and it really was fine on it's own, better than fine. I liked having a 'light' sauce on the pasta, it didn't feel too rich but it was very satisfying. I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. Cold. It was still yummy.