a properly attired recipe

A few of you may have noticed that there once was a recipe here... and then there wasn't.  So, here's the story.  I was doing a little blog visiting when I landed at Cobble Hill Farm. Breezing through some older posts I found a recipe for spaghetti pie.  I found this funny because just the day before, I had served it for lunch.  Ha ha!  O.k., this may not seem funny to you but I thought that I had made it up.  We had leftover spaghetti and I'm always trying to be creative with leftovers so they seem like 'new' meals.  I thought I had invented spaghetti pie.

When I saw the recipe I got excited, called one of my daughters in to witness this crazy coincidence and then surprised her with even more mama drama.  I highlighted the recipe, copying it to paste onto my word processor page and then save.  Unfortunately the word processor didn't want it.  Not a problem for a creative mama.  I just clicked 'new post' for my blog and pasted it there.  Enter problem.  Instead of saving as a draft as I had intended, I accidentally hit publish.

Here's where it gets even funnier.  Ha ha?  It wasn't until about an hour later that I pulled up my post (fully expecting to see the valentine craft pic) and saw a recipe for spaghetti pie!  It had posted?  And people had seen it sitting there all naked?  Just a recipe... no picture, no text, no signature, no credit to Staci...  I panicked.  I couldn't figure out how to make it go away and I wanted it to go away fast.  Of course, it was right about now that I noticed that people had actually seen it and commented.  I didn't bother to see who, I was too busy smacking buttons trying to delete.  I finally regained my brain and accomplished the task.  

So, that's what happened to the recipe and today, I give it to you properly... all dressed and presented as it should be.

Spaghetti Pie

click link to see photo

Crust:

4 ounces angel hair or thin spaghetti noodles, broken into 2-inch pieces

2 T. unsalted butter

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, beaten

Filling:

2 t. vegetable or canola oil

1 small onion, minced

1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey

salt and pepper

1 - 24 ounce jar (or homemade) spaghetti sauce (*if you like it less saucy, use 3/4's the amount)

1 c. ricotta or mascarpone

1 large egg

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring 2 quarts water to boil in a large saucepan.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain.

Combine the cooked pasta, butter, Parmesan, and egg in the pan used to cook the pasta in (or a medium bowl).  Press the mixture into a 9 or 10-inch pie plate.  Bake, with the rack in the center of the oven, until the crust is set, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack until the filling is ready.

For the filling:

While the crust is baking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the onion and cook until softened, 3-4 minutes.  Add beef or turkey, stirring while cooking, until cooked through and lightly browned, 7-8 minutes.  Drain off excess fat and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir in the spaghetti sauce and simmer until heated through and thickened slightly.

In a small bowl stir together the ricotta or mascarpone and egg.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Stir ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta crust.  Top with the meat sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Bake until browned, 25 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool about 15 minutes before serving.  Slice into wedges and enjoy!

Blessings, Debbie