I had never had baked spaghetti until I moved to the South, and it truly is one of the best things I ever ate! There are many versions of baked spaghetti, but this recipe is my favorite so far. What makes this dish taste so unbelievably good is that the dried pasta is cooked right in the tomato meat sauce, so it absorbs all that great flavor. Then by adding heavy cream and cheese, it creates a rich and creamy sauce that is hard to beat! If you are a pasta lover, this one is for you.
TIPS: I have made this using all beef, without the sausage, and it is also very good, but loses some flavor. You can change the heat amount by using hot sausage instead of sweet or mild sausage, or by adding additional red pepper flakes. I use crushed “San Marzano” tomatoes in all of my Italian recipes as I believe they have the best flavor. This dish travels well, so is good to take to pot luck or other gatherings.
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz 90% lean ground beef (or higher)
- 4 oz ground italian sausage (hot, mild or sweet)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 – 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 8 oz dried spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
- 2 C water
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 C heavy cream
- 4-6 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 C shredded italian cheese blend or mozarella
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to a high position and turn on broiler.
- In an oven-safe deep non-stick skillet or a dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat. Brown the ground beef and sausage, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain meat on paper towel-lined plate and pour off fat from skillet.
- Return meat to skillet, still over medium heat, and add garlic, pepper flakes and oregano. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, dry spaghetti, water and salt. Cover and cook, stirring often, until spaghetti begins to soften, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, covered, until spaghetti is al-dente, about 7 more minutes.
- Uncover and stir in cream, basil and 1/3 C shredded cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and broil until surface is spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!