The other day I was looking around on the Internet for some different ideas for holiday meals. One of the recipes I was reading belonged to Paula Deen, who we all know is an amazing cook. There were links to some of her other recipes, and one of them was baked spaghetti.
Now most of us (at least in my family) have been making baked spaghetti for years, so I wasn’t so sure what could be so special about that. The recipe had a video that went along with it, so I decided to watch.
Paula made her own spaghetti sauce. Okay, I tend to use stuff out of a jar. She also layered her spaghetti noodles, sauce and cheese. Then she baked it. I always mixed mine together, poured it into a baking dish, topped it with cheese, and then baked it. Not alot of difference, but hers looked more gooey than mine does. So I figured what the heck, I’ll try it. The hubs eats most anything I cook, so I don’t think it will go to waste.
So here’s where I made a few changes to her recipe.
1. I used Classico Vodka Sauce. I love homemade sauce, but I also love vodka sauce and it sounded good to me.
2. I used linguine. It was what I had in the house. Go with what you have.
3. I used a combination of shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. One package of each, plus a little out of a third package. I like my spaghetti cheesy. (Remind me sometime to tell you about the lasagna they served at a restaurant in my hometown called The Rathskeller. )
So here’s the recipe the way Paula makes it:
Ingredients
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 small bay leaves
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup grated Monterey Jack
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. Simmer for 20 more minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. Cut into squares before serving.
House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Here’s the photos I took along the way:
Rolling in the Dough 