Baked Spaghetti

I had a friend that I wanted to take a dish to recently so I decided on baked spaghetti, something they could either eat right away or freeze for a future meal.  I made this on Monday night of Thanksgiving week so I made one for our house too so we'd have a couple of nights that we could eat leftovers and I could tend to making the desert and brining the turkey for the big day.



I thought this was very good.  I kept it simple as I knew kids would be eating it. 



Baked Spaghetti

slightly adapted from Allrecipes

This recipe is doubled to make two separate dishes~



(2) 9x13 throw-away pans

16 oz. spaghetti noodles

4 Tablespoons butter

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided

(2) 15-oz containers of ricotta cheese

2 lbs ground beef

medium onion, diced

(2) 26-oz can Hunt's traditional pasta sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

Italian seasoning

16-oz shredded mozzarella cheese



Lightly spray two throw-away pans with non-stick spray and set to the side.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook noodles until al dente.  Meanwhile, over medium-high heat, cook ground beef and onion, until meat is cooked through and no longer pink.  Drain grease and add back to the pot, mixing with pasta sauce.  Season with garlic powder.  Once noodles are al dente, drain and mix with butter.  Once butter is melted, add 1 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese.  Spread the noodles in the bottom of the 9x13 pan.  Spread ricotta cheese over noodles.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the remaining Parmesan cheese.  Spread the meat sauce mixture over cheese mixture.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and lastly, add layer of mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese.  Cover with foil and bake 20-30 minutes.  Uncover and brown the top if serving now.  Otherwise remove from oven, allow to cool and freeze for a later meal.