Spaghetti Pie Bake

By á-8595

A great recipe you can change to fit your family's taste. You can add different vegies, use different seasonings or spices, I seasoned the meat with Penzey Spice's fox point seasoning.

Ingredients

• 1 6-8 ounces whole grain spaghetti (or regular spaghetti)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1-1/2 pounds ground round
• 1 Leek chopped (or green onions or sweet onions to taste)
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper (or green, orange or yellow)
• 1 small zucchini chopped
• 1 - 14 ounce can of chopped or diced tomatoes (with the juice)
• 1 - 6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used cilantro)
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt (optional) I used 1/2 teaspoon of freeze dried garlic browned with the meat.
• 1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup Monterey Jack or Italian cheese (shredded)

Preparation

Step 1

Cook spaghetti according to package directions and drain. (I added a tablespoon or so of Old World tuscany olive oil to the water). There should be about 3 - 1/4 cups cooked spaghetti. Stir in butter, Parmesan cheese and eggs. Form into a crust in a buttered 9 x 13 glass pan. While spaghetti is boiling, in a skillet cook ground beef, leek or onions, red pepper, garlic (optional) until almost tender, and meat is browned, add the zucchini for the last couple minutes. Drain off excess fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, cilantro or oregano and garlic salt if not using the freeze dried garlic. Heat thoroughly. Spread cottage cheese over bottom of spaghetti crust and fill pie with tomato-meat mixture. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts. Serves 8 to 10.