One of Tara’s favorite recipes … I have made it healthy and I think we love it even more in this house. Traditional spaghetti pie is exactly as it sounds, you make a crust using spaghetti noodles, layer with ricotta/cream cheese mixture, meat sauce, and cheese and bake it. Here is how we make it healthy (and gluten-free btw)….
What you need:
1 Spaghetti Squash, split in half. I brush with a little olive oil and fresh ground pepper, place face down on a cookie sheet and bake for about an hour at 350. You can stick a fork in the outside and if it is tender, its done. Let it cool some. I will throw it in on a Saturday around lunch time while I am doing other things, take it out in an hour or so and let it cool.
1 egg
1/3 cup Parmesan
Once the spaghetti squash is cooled a bit, use a spoon to scrape out the flesh. It will look like spaghetti (so much tastier IMHO). I usually take about half the squash mix it with the beaten egg and Parmesan, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, and fresh ground pepper. Form a crust in a 8-9 in square baking dish or pie pan. Push the sides up a little so that it looks like a pie crust. Use as much of the squash as you need to make the desired “crust”.
Cottage Cheese (about 8 0z), a clove of garlic, and Italian seasoning next. Mix with a hand blender if you like a smooth texture. Taste Taste Taste and season to your liking. Place spoonfuls on your crust and then use a spatula to gently spread the layer into your crust.
Marina or Meat Sauce. Chris loves meat sauce. All dinners must have protein. I will use ground chicken or lean ground beef or a mixture of the two. 1 pound of meat, 1/2 sweet onion, 1 clove garlic, 1 tbs Italian seasoning, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and red pepper flakes to your spice preference. Brown the meat with the spices and add in tomato sauce or your favorite marinara sauce.
Spoon your sauce on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Cook for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Add mozzarella and cook another 15 minutes at around 400 or until the mozzarella is just a bit golden.
We keep extra Parmesan and red pepper flakes on hand for serving. Serve with a spinach salad. Great healthy, yet tasty dinner!
Any extra sauce gets frozen. Any extra spaghetti squash gets frozen. And the next time I make it, its super easy to thaw, layer and bake!