Delight's Bites: Baked Spaghetti 'Pie'

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Baked Spaghetti 'Pie'

This one was so much fun to make! It's like a facelift for spaghetti! It could also be a great way to use leftover noodles :)

Peter called me when he got off work and said that he had invited some friends over for dinner. This was a great quick dish to throw together. Luckily, I already had a batch of my homemade bolognese sauce, but if you're really in a rush for time you could make a quick marinara sauce, (or let's be honest- when in a real bind there is no shame in reaching for a good jar of red sauce from the market!)

In any form, this is a delicious and easy entree to whip up. Plus, isn't it so much more fun than plain old spaghetti?!!

Comments from the boys were:

-"This is so much easier to eat than spaghetti, and it tastes better too!";

-"This is so good!...Megan, did I say yet how good this is!?"; and finally-

-"Best homemade meal I've had in a long time!"...but that was coming from the boy that just got back from a 'boys trip' in Mexico, so I don't think this one counts, Haha!

This night the three guys took down the whole thing, but I'd say it could normally serve 6 people comfortably- (not counting big hungry boys as normal people, of course)

Ingredients (makes 1 large pie; 8 slices)

6-8 ounces Spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, plus 1/4 cup for topping
2 whole Eggs
1 (16 oz) container of Fat Free Cottage Cheese (or you can use ricotta cheese. I opt for cottage cheese because it is healthier and tastes just as good when it's all cooked in; those who don't normally care for cottage cheese don't even know it's in here and they love it.)
1 heaping cup of Shredded Mozzarella, plus 1/2 cup for topping
1/2 batch Bolognese sauce, or Marinara Sauce, or your favorite jarred sauce.

Cook pasta 'al dente'; drain; While still hot, stir in 2 Tbsp Butter, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese and 2 eggs; Mix well.

The cheese and butter mixed into the noodles give lots of flavor to this bottom layer of the dish; the eggs hold it all together as it bakes so that later you will be able to cut it into nice slices without the noodles flopping all over the place.

Lightly spray or butter your baking dish, and press noodles firmly into bottom of oven safe dish. (I use this Le Creuset pan, but you could use a casserole dish, a large pie pan, ...any oven safe baking dish)

Mix cottage cheese with 1 cup shredded Mozzarella and press firmly on top of noodles.

Layer your sauce on top of the cheese mixture. I used my homemade bolognese sauce, but you could always use a simple marinara if you are looking for a meatless entree.

If you want to make this 'spaghetti pie' look like a 'pizza pie', you could also use a simple marinara sauce, top with mozzarella, and then top it lastly with slices of Italian sausage (or any pizza toppings for that matter) to turn this spaghetti pie into a 'spaghetti-pizza pie'!