If you don’t know already I am Italian, at least 75% I like to tell my kids. We have a pasta night at least once a week . But don’t get me wrong, while I love making homemade pasta sauce, I rarely do when it comes to a baked pasta dish
. I have used several different kinds and recently saw the selection of pasta sauces and decided to experiment with it. While I have made a dozen baked Lasagnas before, I have never made anything like this before.
I guess Spaghetti pie can be considered a lazy lasagna. I thought I would give it a try and it was also something I could make probably up to a day ahead and bake for dinner.
When writing this post, made it earlier the same day and then baked it at dinner. You could even make two, one for dinner and one for the freezer just don’t bake it. If you make it the day before, just be sure to take it out and sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
The base of the spaghetti pie starts with a crust of buttered spaghetti.
Molded like so:
Then you start layering the flavors of this spaghetti pie recipe. I used cottage cheese as I have one child that does not like ricotta but definitely prefer ricotta.
I also made it even easier by using a jar of Ragu Spaghetti sauce instead of making the red sauce in the original recipe.
For the best flavor Ragu is made from a recipe of Assunta, someone from an Italian Heritage and Ragu’s Commitment to keep Assunta’s High Standards.
Similiar to what my grandma did, making sauce is all about The Process – Stemming from a family recipe, Slowly simmered to add layers of flavor
Most importantly, No.No.No (no artificial flavors, no artificial flavors and no high fructose corn syrup)
I would use Italian sausage instead of ground meat. Turkey Sausage is one of our favorites.
Top it with cheese if you are going to freeze it so you don’t forget to have cheese available when you are ready to cook it. I just covered the pie for the first 20 minutes and then uncovered for the final 10 minutes of baking.
With little effort you have a very flavorful Italian dish the whole family will love.
Ready for a bite?
Have you ever tried Spaghetti Pie?
What flavor of pasta sauce would you use in this recipe?
Spaghetti Pie Recipe
Spaghetti Pie Recipe is a great meal to bring to a friend in need. Family friendly meal
Ingredients
- 6 ounce package spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey or 3 Italian sausage links, my 1st choice
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- *1, 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- *1, 6 ounce can tomato paste
- *1 teaspoon white sugar
- *1 teaspoon dried oregano
- *or substitute: 1 Jar of Ragu Spaghetti sauce I use a simple tomato and basil. You can add 1/4 cup of water to the jar once emptied to get remainder out of the jar and dilute the sauce.
- 1 or-1 1/2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, much better
- 2 tbs fresh chopped parsley, pinch of salt and pepper optional
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or 3 slices of provolone
Instructions
- Cook and drain spaghetti. Stir in margarine, parmesan cheese and eggs, while spaghetti is hot. Form spaghetti mixture into a crust in a buttered 10 inch pie plate.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a skillet cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic. Drain off the fat and stir in the undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and oregano or the jar of spaghetti sauce. Add the tomato sauce and season as desired with oregano and basil. Heat through.
- Mix parsley and salt and pepper with cottage cheese together. Spread cottage cheese over the spaghetti crust then pour in the beef and tomato mixture. Make sure to cover all the noodles or they will dry out in the cooking process.
- If you are preparing ahead, let the pie cool slightly, cover and place in Fridge. TAKE OUT 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella or provolone cheese over the top of the pie then bake for 5 minutes longer, until cheese melts.
Notes
HINT
I ended up baking it and then placing it into our warming drawer. You must cover it or it will dry out on the edges.
You can make this low fat by using lean meats and low fat cheeses.
Adapted from All Recipes
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 691Total Fat 39gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 211mgSodium 1210mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 4gSugar 13gProtein 54g
All information and tools presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on stayingclosetohome.com should only be used as a general guideline.
I’ve never had spaghetti pie before, but it sounds like something I would thoroughly enjoy! Thanks so much for the recipe!
OMG this looks so yummy!!! Ragu is the only sauce my hubby will eat! I buy it all the time
This looks delicious and super easy to make. I think it would be perfect for a weeknight meal!
This looks so yummy!