Spaghetti is hard to beat. It’s easy to cook and everybody loves it. My only gripe with spaghetti is that every time I eat it, I gain weight. But how can you have just a little portion of spaghetti?
I saw a recipe recently that looked interesting. They called it Million Dollar Spaghetti. I don’t know if it’s worth a million dollars, but it is both easy and delicious – almost a cross between spaghetti and lasagna, so how can you go wrong? Here’s my version of Million Dollar Spaghetti.
First, boil a pound of the pasta and don’t overcook. Keep it al dente, “to the tooth,” or a little firm as the Italians say. I used Thin Spaghetti, but any spaghetti works.
For a sauce, I think Prego Traditional is best. The secret to Million Dollar Spaghetti is the blend of cheeses. I used 8 oz. of cottage, 8 oz. of softened cream cheese and a ¼ C of sour cream and an Italian blend on top.
Brown a pound (more if you like a meatier sauce) of ground sirloin and pour off the little bit of grease. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the 16-oz. jar of pasta sauce. Put 2 T of olive oil on the bottom of a 10 x 13 casserole dish and then spread half the spaghetti over the oil. Mix the cottage cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream together in a separate bowl and spread that mixture over the spaghetti. Layer remaining spaghetti over the creamy mixture and top with a half dozen pats of butter.
Pour the ground beef mixture over the spaghetti and spread around evenly. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes. Spread an 8-oz. package of Italian blend cheese over the dish and return to the oven for 5 or 10 minutes, until the cheese melts. I bet a dine to a doughnut that if you make this this once, you’ll put it in the future family meal rotation.
