Baked Spaghetti (Paula Deen)

This recipe was just OK. I think the concept of the recipe is a great one especially if you are using leftover spaghetti sauce. The sauce in the recipe is truly its downfall. My family liked the recipe but no one was overly impressed with the sauce. This is one of those recipes that you take the idea behind the recipe and simply replace the sauce. The Italian season was just over the top that’s all I could taste.

I think I will make this recipe in the future, but instead of this sauce I will use leftover Nana’s Spaghetti Sauce instead, or worse case scenario a jarred sauce would work. I think it would be fantastic using a bunch of different cheese’s like, parmesan, mozzarella, asiago, and even some provolone. Yum.

This is a great base idea/recipe but “fixing” the sauce would be a great improvement.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups canned diced tomatoes
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt pepper combo
• 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 8 ounces uncooked pasta
• 1 cup grated cheddar
• 1 cup grated Monterey Jack

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. 
3. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. 
4. Simmer for 20 more minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. 
5. Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 
6. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. Cut into squares before serving.

Original Recipe Source

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