Spaghetti Pie

I'm not a fan of plain old spaghetti with red sauce.  In fact, if there is an evening I have to be away from my family, that's the night I plan to make such a meal--they can enjoy it and I can avoid it!  Spaghetti pie, however, is really good!

1 # hamburger, browned

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (or make your own)

8 oz. spaghetti (or angel hair) noodles

2 c. mozzarella cheese

sour cream (optional)

1 egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Oven temperature: 350 degrees.  Bake time: 30 minutes.

Get all your ingredients out and ready to go; this is a fast meal to make!  (As usual, I make my own spaghetti sauce, hence the can of tomato sauce in place of where you might have the pre-made variety.)

Bring your water to a good boil.

Add the spaghetti noodles.

Allow the noodles to cook until they are good and soft; then cook for an additional minute.  Since you are going to put this dish into the oven, you don't want to start out with al dente noodles...your end result would be awfully dry and crunchy, which you don't want.

While the noodles are cooking, it's a good time to brown your hamburger, get rid of the excess grease, and mix it (the hamburger) in with the spaghetti sauce.

Once the noodles have finished cooking, go ahead and drain them.  I allow a tiny bit of water to remain with the noodles, again, so that they won't dry out too much during the baking process. 

Place the cooked noodles back into the pot you cooked them in and add the egg and Parmesan cheese, stirring well.

The noodles will now be clumped together.  Pour them into a pie plate and press some of the noodles up against the edge of the pie plate so that there is a slight depression in the middle portion of the noodles.

Next, add whatever amount of sour cream you want, if you choose to use it.  I use about 1 cup, sometimes a little more.  (Notice how the sour cream fits in the center portion of the pie and the spaghetti noodles form the "crust.")

At this point, top the sour cream with your meat and spaghetti sauce mixture.  Reserve a little sauce if you wish, to place on the serving plate underneath the slices when the meal has finished baking.

Spread the meat mixture over the top of the sour cream and spread it out along the edges of the pie, too. This will help to eliminate crunchy noodles.

Finally, add the mozzarella cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.

Allow the pie to cool for about 5 minutes before slicing into it.  If you reserved any sauce, put it on the serving plates, then top with a slice of spaghetti pie.  Round out the meal with a fresh loaf of French bread and a green veggie.