Spaghetti Pie Recipe

Ahhhh, pasta! I love all things with pasta and cheese. So does my daughter. My son eats nuggets. And tenders. A few other items but basically he’s going to cluck one day *lol* From lasagna (roll-up’s too) to manicotti and all the in-betweens. I make an awesome baked spaghetti too – there is a difference between spaghetti, baked spaghetti and spaghetti pie. Making any of those with my daughter takes me back to the summer’s I spent up north with my Gramps. He was a great cook and I spent hours upon hours with him in the kitchen. Now I get the same joy teaching my daughter these recipes – which get tweaked here and there or changed a little depending on my or her mood.

This is a relatively easy recipe and I hope you enjoy it! Let us know if you try it and what you thought or if you made any changes to it for your family and your taste buds.

1. 1 lb. ground beef
2. 1 pkg. spaghetti
3. 1 cup ricotta cheese
4. 4 large eggs
5. 1 jar of marinara sauce (your choice)
6. 3 tablespoons pesto (your choice)
7. 2 to 3 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
8. salt (1 teaspoon 2 times)
9. pepper (1/4 teaspoon)
10. extra virgin olive oil (1 tablespoon)
11. parmesan cheese (grated) about 1 cup (I dust the pan, use 1/2 cup to tad over when mixing all ingredients and then about 1/3 cup on top of mozzarella cheese at end before baking)
12. 8 oz. mozzarella cheese (sliced)
13. fresh basil (1 tablespoon chopped)
14. Italian parsley (1 tablespoon chopped)
15. spring-form cake pan (9 inch)
16. aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat your spring-form pan with EVOO (or use cooking spray – if so, use olive oil/evoo) making sure to get bottom and sides thoroughly. Dust the parmesan cheese over the pan bottom.

Cook the spaghetti as directed, then drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt, then extra virgin olive oil while tossing the spaghetti – to ensure the noodles are coated. Let the spaghetti sit/cool.

Cook your ground beef (you can use ground turkey/chicken as an alternative) until completely browned all over. If you have any grease/fat – drain it off. Add the garlic and pesto (optional – you don’t have to use) stirring to combine.

Take the ground beef and put in the bowl with your now cooled noodles. Add your marinara, ricotta cheese, eggs, another teaspoon of salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. You can use your hands if it’s easier – don’t be scared. You want to make sure all ingredients are broken up and mixed together coating the noodles.

I placed my spring-form pan on top of a round cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.

Transfer your spaghetti with all mixed together ingredients into the spring-form pan. Smoothing as you go – when all is poured in, you will smooth the top down and out. Layer your sliced mozzarella cheese over the top and coat with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Cover the spring-form pan with aluminum foil. Take the cookie sheet (enveloped in aluminum foil) that has the now aluminum foil covered spring-form pan and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven after 45 minutes and turn the oven up to 400°. Remove the aluminum foil from the spring-form pan. When the oven hits 400° place the foil lined cookie sheet with the now uncovered spring-form pan back into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes ~ where the cheese is bubbling and melted/melting – I do not like my cheese to turn brown – if you do, you can bake around 15 to 18 minutes. When the cheese is melted and bubbling to your preference, remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley and basil (we opted not to as we actually added some seasonings while cooking the ground beef).

I let the spaghetti pie rest for 20 to 30 minutes. I do this a little longer since I am not cutting it in the pan as I would my baked spaghetti (not a pie *lol*) or lasagna. No matter what you’re making, if you don’t allow it to rest/cool long enough, then when you go to cut, it will either be hard to do … and/or it will be a mess. You want it to hold its form.

Release the spring-form pan after it has been allowed to rest. Then you can either keep on the bottom of the spring-form pan or transfer to another plate altogether by sliding it right off. Cut the spaghetti pie then eat and enjoy! It will be even better the next day! Same with baked spaghetti, lasagna/lasagna roll-up’s etc – where leftovers are delicious. Uhmmm, yum!