Spaghetti Pie

I love lasagna, but sometimes it's too much work. There's all those slippery noodles to deal with, layer upon layer to build and a cheesy filling to mix up. Sometimes I want something slightly simpler, but just as tasty.

Enter spaghetti pie. You still need to build a sauce, but you only deal with three layers instead of nine and half of the ingredients can be mixed right in the pan. I tend to be generous with the parmesan and cottage cheese, because cheese makes everything better. 

And the result is tasty. A simple layered pasta dish with toothsome noodles, punctuations of cheese curds and a hearty meat sauce. The perfect dinner for a chilly night or to make for a needy friend. 

Spaghetti Pie

Serves 6 - 8

8 oz. package of spaghetti

1 T. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, minced

3/4 lb. ground beef

1 lb. 10 oz. jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

2 T. butter

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 egg, well beaten

1 cup cottage cheese

4 oz. mozzarella, shredded

Cook spaghetti in salted water according to package directions.

Drain and set aside.

While spaghetti is cooking, you can start the sauce.

Saute onion in oil until softened.

Add hamburger...

...and saute until browned.

Add spaghetti sauce...

...and sugar, oregano and garlic salt...

....and simmer for 10 minutes or so. 

Drain spaghetti and dump into 9 x 13 pan. 

Add butter right away so it can melt in the hot spaghetti.

Once butter is melted, mix in parmesan, salt, pepper and egg with a fork.

It should look like this!

Glob in cottage cheese...

(yum, yum yummy!)

....and smooth it around with the back of a spoon.

Then top with the meat sauce.

Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Remove foil, top with mozzarella and bake for 10 more minutes. 

Let stand 15 minutes before serving. 

Recipe from my mom.