Baked Spaghetti Pie

I had never in my life had spaghetti pie, nor even ever heard of it, before I saw it in a Good Housekeeping article and it peaked my interest. The idea of spaghetti being baked in a pie dish sounded fantastic! To my surprise, when I placed this on the table, my hubby informed me that his Grandma used to make this for him way back in the day. Who would have known? I surely thought this was a new creation that those cooking pros at Good Housekeeping dreamed up. But nope, this is an old fashioned classic... one that I had somehow missed in my 29 years.

This dish was way too easy to be good... but to my surprise, it was fantastic. It has just 6 simple ingredients and is great if you're on a budget. It was super quick and easy to throw it all together in a pie dish and stick it in the oven for 25 minutes. I made some quick garlic bread for the side and called it a day. I asked my hubby if it was as good as his Grandma's and he said that it was so long ago he really didn't remember... but he did indeed love it and requested that I make it again for him. So I'll just tell myself that it's better than Grandma's...




Baked Spaghetti Pie

1/2 pound spaghetti
2 large eggs
1 container (15 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. In large bowl, with fork, beat eggs. Stir in ricotta and 3/4 cup Parmesan until blended.

3. Add spaghetti to ricotta mixture and stir until well coated. Transfer spaghetti mixture to prepared pie plate; top with marinara sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining 2 Tbsp. Parmesan.

4. Bake pie 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. Cut into wedges to serve.

Makes 6 servings.