Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

Every now and then you find a recipe that just sounds odd, but has a good chance of tasting pretty good. Sometimes it’s a picture of the recipe, or the name of it. It was definitely the name with last night’s meal

Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

6 ounces spaghetti, cooked, drained, and rinsed with cold water
1 large egg, separated
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ pound ground beef
1 ¼ cup spaghetti sauce
¾ cup Ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.

Combine spaghetti, egg white, and Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl. Press the mixture into the pie plate to form a pie shell

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the beef. Cook, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and crumbly – roughly 5 minutes. Drain and return to skillet, then stir in spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.

Combine Ricotta, egg yolk, parsley, and ½ cup mozzarella in a medium bowl. Spread mixture into spaghetti pie shell

Spread meat sauce over cheese mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella. Cover pie with foil. Bake for 35 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Let stand before serving.

Source: Easy Everyday Cooking cards

Notes from the Hare

Taste-wise this reminds me of lasagna.

You could substitute cottage cheese for the Ricotta and grated Romano for the Parmesan.

For a lighter meal, exchange the beef for ground turkey and 2 egg whites for the yolk. You could also use low-fat cheeses.

You can use the spaghetti pie crust for other meals – simply prepare the pie shell as above and fill it with roast chicken, pork, or beef.