Mom's Baked Spaghetti
When I was growing up, my mom didn't cook much. She worked full time, and when she got home, she was tired. But..... on special occasions, she would make us baked spaghetti, and we loved it. My kids love it too. Don't let the list of ingredients overwhelm you. This is easy to make and it's always a hit. If you are in a hurry, used Prego spaghetti sauce instead of making the sauce listed below.
1 pint sour cream
1 pint cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 12 oz. package spaghetti noodles, cooked
spaghetti sauce (recipe follows). If you are in a hurry use Prego spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with Pam and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, blend the sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese ,Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Spread this mixture on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Pour 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce over the cheese.
Spread the cooked spaghetti on top of the cheese mixture. Pour tge remaining spaghetti sauce on top. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover loosely with foil.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until heated through.
Spaghetti
Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small white onion, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 –3 garlic cloves,
minced
1 red pepper, finely chopped
5 or 6 sweet Italian sausage links, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 14 oz. can beef stock
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
In a stock pot, heat olive oil. Sauté onion, shallot, mushrooms, garlic and peppers until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the Italian sausage and cook until sausage is not longer pink. Drain grease.
Add beef stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, olives and seasonings. Bring to a simmer.
Cook for 2 hours. Adjust seasonings as necessary.