I made a fun dish this week – Baked Spaghetti. I’ve done numerous Spaghetti Pies in the past, but this was a little different – and it turned out delicious.
Any type of spaghetti is well received, even Vegetarian Spaghetti, but this Baked Spaghetti is a nice change of pace, makes a great dish for a pot luck dinner and kids love it.
There are many variations, but here’s how I did my version.
For meats, I used 1 pound of sweet Italian sausage and 1 pound of lean ground beef. I just chopped them all up in the same skillet and cooked until brown. After I drained off the excess grease, I added a cup of chopped onions – and I find frozen chopped onions to be as good as a fresh onion and a lot less work. Simply pour what you need in the pan and stick the pack back in the freezer. I also minced a large garlic clove and added that. When the onions were translucent, I added two cans of Italian Style Diced Tomatoes, a small can of sliced black olives, a teaspoon of Italian Seasoning, some salt and pepper and mixed it all with the meats in the skillet. In another pot, I had cooked a pound of regular spaghetti, drained it and set aside.
In a large casserole dish, I first put half of the cooked spaghetti on the bottom, then half of the meat and tomato sauce. Next, I sprinkled a half bag of shredded Mozzarella cheese on top, then repeated the layers of spaghetti, meat sauce and mozzarella. Finally, I mixed 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup with a half cup of water and spread that on top. As a punctuation mark, I sprinkled a half-cup of shredded parmesan over the spaghetti and cooked for 30 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees. It was really good. Try it.
Baked Spaghetti
1 pound ground sweet Italian Sausage
1 pound 85/15 ground beef
1 pound of spaghetti
1 large garlic clove
1 C chopped onions
2 cans Italian Style Diced Tomatoes
1 small can sliced black olives
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
16 Oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
½ C shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
½ C water