Frozen Dinner Swap: Spaghetti Pie

This is the last of all the Frozen Dinner Swap recipes. I'm sure some of you are relieved. And I'm sure others of you are sad to see this series go. But I hope there have been a few recipes you can add to your repertoire. I think my favorite has been the crock pot beef tips. It has given me a new appreciation for the things my crock pot can make that end up tasting like they took much more effort than they actually did. For you, I've pasted links to all of the recipes at the bottom of this post.

The last on the list is this Spaghetti Pie recipe from Lauren Gough. I made it Sunday, which was Mandy's birthday, and I was happy to make her a pie of some sort! Truthfully, it didn't taste much different than simple spaghetti. It may have been a little cheesier and richer in flavor, but not in an extreme way.

To its credit, this dish does present a little better than spaghetti. It would be great for an easy meal when you're having guests over, and I think it would be wiped clean in a pot luck line-up. But I can't say that I would make this for just me and Ty on a regular old weeknight. Regular old weeknights call for regular old spaghetti. (Don't worry Ty, I will keep the spark alive and sprinkle some mozzarella on yours!)

When it comes out of the oven it's bubbly and melty and gooey and amazing looking. Too bad I'm a horrible photographer and can't seem to convey the bubbly, melty, gooey, amazingness to you all. I should probably start taking pictures with a real camera rather than my camera phone. In the meantime, here's the recipe:

Spaghetti Pie

1 6 oz. package of spaghetti

2 tbsps butter

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp. white sugar

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• Cook and drain spaghetti. Stir in margarine, Parmesan cheese and eggs while spaghetti is hot. Form spaghetti mixture into a crust in buttered 10-inch pie plate. (At this point, you will think there's no way all of these ingredients will fit in your pie plate. But they will. Just barely.)
• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a skillet, cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic. Drain off the fat and stir in the undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and oregano. Heat through.
• Spread cottage cheese mixture over the spaghetti crust then pour in the beef and tomato mixture.
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for 5 minutes longer until the cheese melts.

* You can substitute ricotta cheese for cottage cheese to get a richer, creamier flavor.

Here's a list of all our Frozen Dinner Swap recipes:

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Crawfish Corn Chowder

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Crock Pot Beef Tips

Taco Soup

Creamy White Chicken Chili

Chicken Divan

Chicken-Andouille Gumbo

Chicken Noodle Casserole