(Twice) Baked Spaghetti

(Twice) Baked Spaghetti

 Once Baked...

Twice Baked Spaghetti

My family refers to this recipe as "E's Specialty". This is a recipe that I've had for quite some time. It is just something that I saw and thought could be good for a variety of occasions, etc. Needless to say, I've now made this for housewarmings, birthdays, anniversaries, and for everything in between. Sometimes I just make it for family so they don't have to worry about dinner that week. Either way, everyone loves it and it seems as though, for some reason, it's my "thing". At first I followed the recipe to the very last syllable. After a couple of times I realized this was a recipe that was meant to be a very basic template. It was too ordinary.If I followed the recipe enough so that it would act as a guide and then just made it my own it could be truly great. So, that's what I did.

For the sake of this blog, I am going to include both the original recipe and then my modified awesomeness.

The Original Recipe:

What you'll need:

• 1 (8oz) package of spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 (24oz) ricotta cheese
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (25.75 oz) jar Prego Chunky Garden Combination Italian Sauce (use whatever sauce you want, y'all)
• 1 (8oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil (non-stick side toward the food, duh).
2. Cook spaghetti; brown ground beef.
3.  Combine how cooked spaghetti with butter; stir until butter melts and coats spaghetti. Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese; stir to coat. Arrange spaghetti in an even layer in foil lined pan. Spread ricotta cheese over spaghetti. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
4. After browning ground beef, drain. Put back in pan and add pasta sauce and heat until bubbly. Spoon over cheeses. Top with mozzarella cheese and remaining parmesan cheese.
5. Cover with non-stick foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil cover and continue baking 15 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. (If you refer to the pictures at the beginning of the post you will notice that the first picture is what your baked spaghetti will look like here)

This is a good recipe. But, as I said before, it is a bit basic and tedious, I think. My recipe still is a little time consuming, but I take shortcuts and make variations that will certainly help the time move more quickly and will make your life a bit simpler.

My Version:

What you'll need:

• Essentially you will need all of the same ingredients, with these variations:
• no butter/margarine
• a small container of low fat ricotta
• minced garlic or garlic powder
• pepper
• Italian seasonings
• more cheese, baby
• Please note that when I make this recipe I typically make a double batch, but I eyeball the amount of each ingredient. Sometimes I end up wiht extra ingredients and simply find another way to use them and sometimes I come up short. Either way, I make do. That being said, you can modify the quantity and make as big or as little a batch as possible.
•  I bake this in one of the one time use aluminum pans you can buy in the baking section. 

What to do:

1. Cook spaghetti and brown ground beef simultaneously. Drain spaghetti, put back in pot. Drain beef well, put in bowl.
2. Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
3. Get your pan and smear (I love that word, haha) a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan. this will help keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Smear some on the sides if it will make you feel better... I don't :)
4. Layer in the following way:
1. Spaghetti (enough so that you don't really see the sauce underneath, but stay mindful.. you don't want to run out before you're done layering)
2. Grated parmesan cheese to coat (I just do it straight out of the container and I don't measure it. shake the cheese out until the whole layer has cheese on it)
3. Ground beef (eye ball it. Again, you want enough for each layer you intend on doing)
4. With a teaspoon, scoop out some ricotta cheese and, with your finger, push the scoop onto the ground beef. Don't spread the dollops out yet. Do at least 4 dollops.
5. Pasta sauce (again, eye ball it. use as much or as little as you want, but remember you need enough for the whole batch). Now, take a spoon and spread the pasta sauce around. This will also spread the ricotta out and mix them up a bit into a delicious, cheesy, saucy combination of goodness.
6. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, pepper, and powdered garlic (as much or as little as you'd like). If you are going to do minced garlic, just stay mindful not to overkill.
7. Cover with shredded mozzarella. (I always add a little extra shredded cheese on the top)
8. Repeat!
5. Once your done layering, loosely cover with foil.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes covered. Remove foil, bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden.

**This is where you can stop, if you want. The dish will be totally tasty at this point. I, however, typically make and bake this once the day before I know it will be served. I do this for time efficiency more than anything. On the day it is to be served I pop it back in the oven at 425 degrees F until heated through. This depends on the oven. At my house it takes roughly 45 minutes. At my folks' house, it would take an hour. After this is completed you will have something similar to the second picture. My family digs it a little crispy, hence why I let it get just barely dark on the top. Please also note that when I bake it the second time I put foil on the top until 10 minutes before I remove it from the oven. **

And that's that. Serve with salad and garlic bread or whatever suits your fancy. My family is insane over this baked spaghetti. Be prepared for leftovers, though!

My family was in town from MA for the last week and I made this the night we had our family dinner. I was hosting 10 people and I literally made a baked spaghetti that was roughly 15 pounds (this is the one pictured at the beginning of the blog). The whole of us only ate roughly half the pan. However, I made such a massive batch because I knew the next day was a low key day and no one would want to cook, so it was lunch for the following day. There was just enough left for the boy to have last night for dinner, so it worked out really well. This is something that can be made in advance,  leftovers can be frozen, etc, etc, etc.

Modify in any and every way you can imagine. Add veggies, use ground turkey or chicken (I've used turkey before and liked it very much), get creative with seasoning, herbs, spices, etc.

Have fun and, more importantly...

Enjoy!

-E-