Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Baked Spaghetti

I want to start off by saying that my mind works in interesting ways.  I came home from work and was trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner.  The first thing that came to my mind was macaroni and cheese.  Well I didn't have the cheese I needed and I didn't want to run out to the store, it was pouring down rain and it was a little chilly.  So the first thing I did was I went to the freezer to see what I wanted to make (figuring that this would give me some ideas).  With it being cool and rainy out I was in the mood for comfort food, which is why I think my mind went to mac and cheese.  I grabbed a package of beef sausage.  It is ground so it makes it easy to break apart as you cook it in a skillet.  The sausage has some spices to it which make it very nice.  We get it from Mountain Run Farm, who sells grass-fed beef.  So as I decided on the sausage I then thought okay I will make spaghetti, and then as my mind continued to process what I was thinking I then thought, ah ha, I know what I will make.  I will make baked spaghetti.  Here is what I did.

I made my own spaghetti sauce (I usually don't have jarred sauce in the house) to use for this dish. Here is what you will need:
1 28 ounce can of chunky tomato sauce
1/2 half can tomato paste
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper
1/2 cup romano cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
The above spices are an estimate.  Place everything into a saucepan and heat.  Stir occasionally and keep covered.  Cook until heated through.   Meanwhile cook the sausage until done.  Add to cooked sausage to sauce mixture.  Cook 1 package of spaghetti, cook according to package.  Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.  Take a casserole dish and brush it with olive oil.  Add half of the cooked spaghetti to the bottom of the casserole dish, add half of the sauce and half of the cheese.  Then add the next layer finishing with the rest of the cheese on top.  Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until it is just starting to brown.



Also had a side salad to go with dinner.  It was from a bag of greens that we bought at the market portion of the Land and Table event last night.  We also bought a container of Honey Lemon Lavender Chevre (goat cheese) last night from Spring Mill Farm.  I took the greens, washed them and placed them in a bowl added the cheese, topped it with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a light splash of red wine vinegar.  Topped with a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.


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