Spaghetti Pie
First blog post! Actually not the first post, but that one was posted like a year ago, and I deleted it because I thought it was lame. That's right. My blog is actually over one year "old", and I am a neglectful blogger.
You know what else I neglect to do? Plan what's for supper. Supper is my enemy. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook. I truly do. I absolutely love having company, and feeding everyone. It's one of my favorite things. However, I am lame at planning weeknight suppers, partly because I am incredibly indecisive (which probably also attributes to my blogging neglectfulness), and partly because I don't feel like doing it. That whole working thing makes me tired, which results in resorting to nuked chicken nuggets. Don't judge me.
Solution? Go-to meals. I have a handful of favorite meals that I'll be sharing with you here. They are easy, have few and simple ingredients, and inexpensive. Plus, it helps that I know them by heart and don't have to drag out my recipe book or start Googling recipes (or worse, searching Pinterest), thus becoming completely distracted by all the fabulous meals I could be making and developing a great feeling of inadequacy.
Tonight: Spaghetti Pie! Regular spaghetti is totally fine, but like many fruits, spaghetti is also quite delicious when served in pie form. Best part: you can make it ahead of time and pop it in the oven later. You know, like when the daycare you're enrolling your child in for the summer throws an open house at 6pm. At dinner time. Completely throwing off what would have been a perfectly planned supper.
But you've made spaghetti pie ahead of time, save the day by seamlessly throwing together a fantastic supper at what seems like the last minute, and are now the hero of the land.
Disclaimer: I do not own a fancy-pants food blog-worthy camera. Please excuse my lack of photographs of tantalizing tidbits.
Ingredients
6oz spaghetti noodles
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1lb ground turkey, or lean ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (whatever your favorite is)
shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Brown meat in a pan until just cooked through, and add the sauce to it--as much or as little as you like, depending on how meaty you like your sauce. While the meat is cooking, cook the spaghetti noodles according to the directions on the box until just al dente. The noodles and meat will continue to cook in the oven, so it's all right if they are slightly underdone. Slightly.
Once noodles are cooked, rinse with cool water, drain well, and put in a mixing bowl. Add the egg, seasoning, cottage cheese, and parmesan to the noodles. Stir to combine. Using a glass pie plate, add the noodle mixture, forming a nest (like a pie crust is shaped). Add the meat sauce to the middle of the "crust", smoothing the top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the noodle mixture is set. Remove from the oven, and top the spaghetti pie with shredded mozzarella, as much or as little as you like. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Allow pie to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it.
Enjoy! Pin It Now!
