Spaghetti Pie
A great way to repurpose leftover spaghetti and meatballs and/or Bolognese Sauce.
Technically, this was Capelini Pie. Capelini is as long as Spaghetti, but much thinner in circumference and means “fine hair” in Italian. It is often referred to as Angel Hair Pasta in the US. This recipe can certainly be made from scratch, but it seems I usually make it because we have lots of pasta, meat sauce and/or meatballs left over, and I’m looking for something slightly different on the dinner menu.
Lazy Day Lasagna
My Fourth Edition, 1971 version of the venerable Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook has a dish similar to this, called Lazy Day Lasagna. But it appears the idea of Spaghetti Pie didn’t come along until 1980 from a magazine recipe, also in Better Homes and Gardens. Both recipes call for using cottage cheese, which I have done on occasion, but I prefer Ricotta cheese, which is very different in texture with a mild taste like cottage cheese.
Spaghetti Pie, or in this case concocted with the smaller, more delicate capellini is something of a lazy man's lasagna. But this manner of preparation provides a slightly different texture when the pasta is made to mimic a pie crust. The uncovered edges of the pasta will take on a crunchy texture, which is delicious juxtaposed to the soft, creamy mouthfeel of the underlying noodles.
Say what you will about jarred Italian sauces there are a couple of brands being sold today that are very good and as a matter of convenience, they're unbeatable when you're looking to keep kitchen production time to a minimum. We've grown fond of three brands: Rao's Homemade Bolognese, DeLallo Pomodoro Fresco, and Lucini Rustic Tomato Basil. But use whatever sauce you like.
Some recipes don't call for a jarred sauce, but use a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes and a 6 oz can of tomato paste, blended together with a teaspoon of minced garlic and dried oregano.
As you can tell, there is a lot of latitude to adjust and vary the ingredients and style of pasta you like, but they all require a Pyrex glass or oven-proof ceramic 9" pie dish. The sides of a pie dish are fluted which gives a pie its distinctive shape, and is wholly necessary for the sought-after outcome of this recipe.
Spaghetti Pie
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked Capellini or Spaghetti (8 oz uncooked)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/2 medium green bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained (like, Green Giant)
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1- 1/2 cups jarred Italian pasta sauce (like, Rao's Homemade Bolognese)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (like, Kraft)
- 1 cup (8 oz) Ricotta cheese (or substitute cottage cheese)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- fine sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- If your pasta was cooked previously and coming out of the refrigerator, loosen and warm it up by running hot tap water over the pasta through a colander. Allow it to drain. Otherwise, cook the pasta according to the directions on the package to al dente, and drain well.
- In a large skillet heat half the olive oil over medium high heat, sauté the onion and green bell pepper until the onions begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic, and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Remove the ingredients in the skillet to a platter.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and sauté the ground beef until all the pink color is gone, about 5 minutes.
- Return the onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes back into the skillet. Add the jarred tomato sauce and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat through, then set aside.
- In the meantime, combine the two beaten eggs, melted butter and half the Parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the the pasta and toss well with a pair of tongs to ensure the noodles are all well coated.
- Mix the Ricotta cheese with the remaining half of the Parmesan cheese in another mixing bowl and season with salt & freshly cracked black pepper.
- Treat the pie dish with non-stick spray, and then add the pasta. Using the back of a soup spoon, press and shape the pasta to cover the sides of the pie dish the way dough would look if you were making an actual pie.
- Spread the Ricotta and Parmesan cheese mixture over the bottom of the pie. Then, add the beef mixture on top and flatten out with the back of spoon until even.
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Add the mozzarella cheese on top of the pie, and bake another 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Let the pie stand for 5-7 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving.
Notes
- The recipe, as written, assumes you're making from scratch but I don't often make it this way. I make it because I have leftover capellini, sauce and meatballs. In this case, omit Steps 3-6 in the instructions above.
- Instead, cut your meatballs into small bite-size pieces.
- Put the cut up meatballs with the leftover meat sauce on top of the Ricotta and Parmesan cheese mixture as in Step 10 in the instructions above.
