Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb angel hair pasta noodles
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10 ounce) can cream of tomato soup
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups mild cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree.
2. Prepare noodles according to directions on package.
3. Drain well.
4. In a large skillet, add beef, onion, peppers and garlic. Brown until pink is gone out of the beef. Drain.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the meat mixture with the soups, water, seasonings, and spaghetti noodles.
6. Spray a 9×13 inch glass dish with Pam and spread mixture into dish.
7. Top with shredded cheese.
8. Bake in oven 20 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.
9. Note: You may add Mozzarella cheese to the cheddar cheese for more of a cheesier bake.

Nutrition Facts:

Servings: 8

Calories: 291

Saturday night I a friend over for some chick flicks and dinner. She brought her baby girl over too, so it was definitely a Girl’s Night! I made the above recipe. First up: a little Sangiovese.

I was cooking the Angel hair pasta when Kat and Norah arrived.

She brought over a freshly baked load of french bread. It was warm and smelled fantastic.

While the pasta was cooking, I made salads for the two of us to munch on while the food was cooking.

I chopped onion, minced garlic, and browned the ground turkey. I prefer ground turkey to ground beef and it was a good substitution.

It smelled wonderful as it cooked in the skillet. I love the smell of cooking meat, onion and garlic. While that was in the skillet, I mixed the soups and water together.

Next mix in the meat mixture.

I mixed it all together and poured the angel hair pasta into the bowl.

It smelled really fantastic. I was feeling pretty confident that the recipe was going to work out well.

Next I poured it into the pan.
The recipe called for mild cheddar cheese. I used shredded Colby Jack cheese and a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan.

I think the cheddar cheese wasn’t the right cheese for this dish. I think I should have used just the mozzarella and parmesan.

Baked until bubbly and the cheese melty.

Dinner was served!

Bottom Line:

• Needed more garlic.
• Needed a can of diced tomatoes.
• Needed some more spice–not sure what kind though.
• I’d skip the cheddar cheese next time.

Other than that, it was a really good dinner for a first attempt!

QUESTION: Are you skilled at altering recipes to make them better? What spice do you think this recipe needed?