Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Spagagna and Cheese Toast



I have seen baked spaghetti on a ton of other blogs lately, and we love it too. We call it spagagna (pronounced just like lasagna) at our house, because it is basically lasagna- only it has spaghetti noodles. It was born sometime in our first year of marriage when I was thinking regular spaghetti was getting pretty boring ( I made it quite a lot then, because I really didn't know how to cook much else). I added cheese, baked it, and declared it delicious! We had it again the other night, and I had forgotten just how good it was. We paired it with a cheese toast recipe I got from my sweet Aunt Susan a few years ago. I had several slices of my Wonderful White Bread left that were getting a little iffy- so I toasted them with this spread and it was a great match. This toast is also great served with taco soup or chili, which is what Aunt Susan served hers with. Hope you like it!


~Spagagna~ This makes enough for an 8x8, or 9x9 in casserole dish. You can always double it for a 9x13 dish.

Ingredients:
* 1 lb. ground beef, browned
* 1 (24 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (or use homemade if that's what you like)
* garlic powder
* 8 oz. package spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
* shredded cheeses (I like to use a blend of mozzarella and cheddar)

Pre-heat oven to 375.

1.) Once your ground beef is browned, pour in your jar of spaghetti sauce. I like to add a little water to my empty jar and shake it a bit to get all the sauce in the bottom. Add that to your sauce mixture.

2.) Sprinkle mixture evenly with garlic powder, and stir that in.

3.) Simmer sauce for about 5 minutes (it's going to keep bubbling in the oven), and add your spaghetti noodles. Combine.

4.) Spray casserole dish with cooking spray, and add half noodle/sauce mixture.

5.) Sprinkle with half your cheeses ( I probably use 3/4 cup mozzarella, and 1/4-1/2 cup cheddar for each layer)

6.) repeat with remaining noodle mixture, and top with the rest of your cheese.

7.) Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browning on top.

~Aunt Susan's Garlic Cheese Toast Spread~ This recipe makes enough for quite a few bread slices, so I always make half a recipe. It made about 8 slices, and that's just right for my family of 4. And feel free to use more or less garlic or onion salt to suit your tastes. Sometimes, I have to go light on the garlic for Sawyer (my 16 month old).

Ingredients:
* bread slices (any bread works great, whatever is your favorite)
* 8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup butter softened
* 1 tsp. garlic salt
* 1 tsp. onion salt

1.) mix and spread on sliced bread.
2.) cover and refrigerate for 8 hours. (I have always skipped this step, and it turns out fine)
3.) bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.


Have a wonderful day!

4 comments:

  1. Yum, I just love food like this -- so simple and so comforting. The cheese toast especially looks and sounds amazing!

    By the way, I left you a little award on my blog :)

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  2. Looks like comfort food to me too Cassie! YUMMMMMMMMMM

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  3. this is neat like your blog will follow

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  4. this looks so yummy....I do believe this is what we'll have for dinner tonight!! thanks for the inspiration!

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