I rarely make traditional spaghetti because I much prefer spaghetti baked. There are many versions of baked spaghetti’s out there but I love the one I grew up eating from my mom the most. She calls it “spaghetti pie” and It’s truly my favorite. Even though it has cottage cheese in it (which I won’t touch), I love this dish. She pulled the recipe out of what I can only assume was early 90’s Reader’s Digest magazine submitted by a sweet old lady named Beverly Stoops from Barstow, California. Thank you, Beverly…we are still enjoying your recipe to this day! This is a BIG dish unless I’m feeding a more than 6 people, I split into two 8×8 dishes. This makes a perfect freezer meal or to take to a new mom (I wrote a post about meal ideas to take to a family with a new baby you can read here). I go ahead and bake the second dish instead of freezing it pre-baked and after its thawed, I warm it up, covered, on 350 for roughly 30 minutes or until its hot all the way through.

Spaghetti Pie

-1 1/2 lbs of Italian sausage. I liked to buy ground instead of links but if you can only find links, just take the casing off.

–  1 large onion, chopped

– 32 oz. jarred spaghetti sauce. I recommend getting a higher priced sauce just for a better flavor.

-1 C of water

-generous splash (1/2 C) of red wine.

– I lb. spaghetti, cooked and rinsed

– 1/2 stick of butter

-3 eggs, beaten

-16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

-10 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

– 16 oz. cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 11×13 casserole dish. Brown sausage and onion in a large saucepan. Drain grease. Add spaghetti sauce, red wine and water. Simmer until thick. Toss cooked spaghetti with butter, eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella until well mixed. Spoon spaghetti and cheese mixture into dish and press down. Cover evenly wish a layer of cottage cheese. Spoon sauce on top. When smooth, poke holes with a wooden spoon randomly over entire surface. Bake uncovered for 20 min. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top . Return to oven and bake 10 to 15 more minutes longer or until golden and bubbly. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Serves 12-16