So Simple Baked Spaghetti - Pantry-Busting Recipe

24th March 2008

So Simple Baked Spaghetti - Pantry-Busting Recipe

posted in Recipes, Food, How-To |

This recipe is another “pantry-buster” (i.e., a recipe made completely of things most people will have lying around). It’s quick, easy, and so delicious. In hindsight, it probably would’ve been really tasty (and add some nutrients) to add frozen spinach in the cheese layer.

You will need:

3/4 pound of spaghetti
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (or equivalent of homemade sauce)
2 small cans of mushrooms (or fresh mushrooms if you have them)
spices and herbs of your choice
cheese of your choice (about 2 cups)

Boil spaghetti until al-dente. (That means it’s still a little bit resistant/firm)

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9″x9″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Now you can start layering. Start with a layer of spaghetti.You should use half of your spaghetti at this time.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

Then add half of your sauce. You can use homemade spaghetti sauce if you have some in the freezer, or if you don’t, a jar of store-bought junk is fine.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

Add half of the mushrooms and some herbs to the sauce layer.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

And top with half of your cheese.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

Then repeat the layers. Pasta, sauce, mushrooms/herbs, cheese.

Top with more herbs and put the whole thing in the oven. As I was pantry-busting, I also chucked in a loaf of frozen garlic toast.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

Bake it about 25 minutes, until everything is warm and melty. I switched to the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes, so that the top would get that lovely toasty color.

baked spaghetti simple recipe

Serve it up, and enjoy! The leftovers were even better. Mmm…

baked spaghetti simple recipe

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Recipes, Food, How-To. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On March 24th, 2008, giabella designs said:

Yummy! I would add Riccotta cheese, some ground beef, take away the mushrooms and my kids would jump in!

posted on March 24th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

2 On March 24th, 2008, Joyful Abode said:

giabella, you’ve got the idea! The basic point of this post is that Baked Spaghetti is EASY! And you can make it however you like it.

posted on March 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm

3 On March 24th, 2008, MamaFeelgood said:

Comfort food at it’s finest. mmmmmmmmm

posted on March 24th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

4 On April 3rd, 2008, outofthepinksky said:

Yum! I’d have to remember this one! Like giabella, I’d add some meat so my super-carnivorous husband would eat it. Looks great! Plus, since it’s not expensive, it would be extra good for these tough economic times!

posted on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 am

5 On April 8th, 2008, MonsterBug Blankets said:

Hi Emily!

I saw this recipe and thought I should try it sometime–then that sometime became tonight! (Or rather last night, as it’s now in the wee hours!) I had less than an hour to make something and it HAD to include chicken–as my dear daughter decided to turn off the fridge/freezer the other night, and all my meat was thawed, and chicken is what was left!

It was definitely a pantry kind of meal–WHAT can I find in there??? We didn’t have any spaghetti noodles, so I used some ziti I found. I added a can of tomato sauce, as my jar of spaghetti sauce seemed inadequate. I had three partial bags of shredded cheese, and some parmesan. And I sliced the chicken and cooked it in olive oil, before adding it to the layers.

Man, this turned out GOOD! Much better than regular spaghetti! We may have to make it again and again–one of those easy meals to make whenever I have to brave the commissary and go grocery shopping! My kids devoured it–though anything spaghetti/lasagne/tomato based is always a winner!

Thanks!
Jennifer
www.monsterbugblankets.com

posted on April 8th, 2008 at 12:09 am