As a super novice cook, I would like to take the time to thank one of my favorite kitchen ingredients: PASTA!
Pasta, you make my life so much easier. There will always be room (more like a cupboard) in my kitchen for you.
Usually I go for making spaghetti a la homer, which is one of my favorite pasta dishes ever. But since I have yet to find mizithra cheese in Toronto, I have resorted in being creative with my pasta dinners.
(But if anyone knows where I can find mizithra cheese in Toronto, please let me know. I already checked Whole Foods with no luck..)
The sad part about my obsession with pasta dishes is that when I have no time or ingredients (or energy) to make even the basic of basic pasta dishes, I resort to a frozen lasagna at the nearest grocery store.
Since everyone keeps telling me how hard it is to make homemade lasagna, the tossing an already prepared lasagna into the oven is so tempting that I cave and buy one some weeks. But I may have found something quite similar, but SO much better than frozen lasagna!
I am already planning on putting this dish on my regular rotation. It is SO easy to make, with minimal ingredients that you probably already have the majority of them sitting in your kitchen right now! Less grocery shopping makes for a happy day. For me, this means more time spent on Netflix! Or reading for pleasure.
So if anyone has any book suggestions, I would love to hear them! Because now I can relax and read while this spaghetti dish is in the oven. Talk about a win-win!
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 (32 oz) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 5 Tbsp salted butter, melted
- 2 cups cottage cheese, divided
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the beef and onion until meat is browned and onions are soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Drain. Mix in the spaghetti sauce and salt to the meat mixture.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, Parmesan cheese, and butter. Add the spaghetti to the egg mixture and toss to coat. Place half the spaghetti mixture into the baking dish. Top with half of the cottage cheese, mozzarella, and meat sauce. Repeat layers. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, around 20 to 25 minutes longer.
That looks great! I have not eaten a baked pasta (imagine that!) dish as yet. I guess I would enjoy it if Mozzarella is used because I don't like Parmesan 🙁
Really tempting recipe
Can't go wrong with a baked pasta like this! Sounds like total comfort food!
Pasta is always a good answer when it comes to what to cook for dinner..always a winner. This looks very tasty! I recently made lasagna rolls and there's something about pulling out a hearty pasta bake that is so satisfying.
Whenever I don't know what to cook, I turn to pasta :-)) Your baked spaghetti looks delish.
This looks delicious! Your photos are great 🙂
This looks so good! I love your photos, they always make me sooo hungry 🙂
This reminds me of the pasta gratins my mum used to make, delicious 😀 x
Bake in a covered glass dish – avoid the usage of aluminum foils because it leaches into anything that is acidic, such as tomato based sauces. Aluminum is toxic to the human body. Avoid using it in the kitchen! This is something that is never talked about within all of the discussions about eating healthy i.e. Aluminum pots and pans, disposable cooking ware, foils, and utensils. Use glass or stainless steel only. No non stick either.
It is not quite as dangerous as you are saying. You can read an article here to put your mind at ease:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/AR2006052300366.html
But if you are still afraid to be cooking with aluminum foil, a covered glass dish would work equally well.
You are making me so hungry. You're baked spaghetti looks amazing.
Kay of Pure & Complex
http://www.purecomplex.com
Cathleen do you watch Suits?
I know it sounds like a funny question..but your profile photo..makes me think of..pretty Meghan Markle? SP? (Rachel).
This looks great..
Cathleen if you buy no boil noodles..Oven ready.. they are hard but just cook right along w/ the lasagna..lasagna is easier than you think..
I am sure you can make anything.
I've never made baked spaghetti but love everything about it! Yes pasta is a personal friend of mine too – always satisfying and delicious! Beautiful dish – good luck with the cheese search!
My daughter would love this!
I've never baked spaghetti, this looks really interesting. GG
Pasta is a very wonderful thing 🙂 Although I won't turn down pretty much any kind of carbs! Looks great!
My mother used to do a baked spaghetti and this sounds similar which means it must taste great! Pasta is something we always had on our weekly rotation. Now my husband doesn't want the white stuff. This is torture!
My mother used to do a baked spaghetti and this sounds similar which means it must taste great! Pasta is something we always had on our weekly rotation. Now my husband doesn't want the white stuff. This is torture!
I love baked pasta and this one will be perfect when the kids and grandkids come to visit. Thank you for sharing!
I love a good baked pasta dish. It's so easy to put together after a long day at work! This looks delicious! 🙂