Spaghetti Pie

Tender strands of pasta, tossed with an herby, cheesy tomato sauce and baked under a blanket of buttery mozzarella. Start with leftover pasta, or quickly boil a batch, and this phenomenal meal comes together in about 20-30 minutes. It's the ultimate, crowd-pleasing, family-friendly, weeknight meal. You need to make this, like today. 

I made this dish because I had leftover spaghetti from a previous meal. Luke said friends were coming over, so I made a heap of pasta... then the friends didn't come over (seems they forgot to ask their parents before saying "yes"!). Anyway, I had about 3/4 pound of extra spaghetti, pre-cooked and ready to roll; so this pie was invented. I'm incredibly thrilled it was! It's saucy, cheesy, and crammed with herbs. Plus, it's fun to serve and eat.

I mentioned that I used leftover pasta, but you don't need leftovers to make the dish. This casserole is so amazing, you'll want to cook pasta just to make it.

Seriously, how much will your family and friends dig this dish?! And get this, you can make it up to 2 days in advance if you want to get the prep work out of the way. Simply assemble the pie as directed and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. Pull the pan from the fridge and remove the plastic 30 minutes before baking (remember to cover the pan with foil for the first 10 minutes of cooking).

Spaghetti Pie

Cooking spray
12 ounces spaghetti or any pasta shape of choice
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, from a carton or can
1 large egg
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh basil or parsley for serving
Crushed red pepper flakes for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a pie plate with cooking spray.
Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and cover with foil to keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, egg, oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. When the spaghetti is cooked and drained, add it to the tomato sauce mixture and toss to combine. Fold in 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes, until the cheese melts.
Top with basil or parsley and red pepper flakes and serve.
Serves 4