Spaghetti Pie

I got this recipe from a magazine a zillion years ago but I have since altered it to my taste.  It is very simple and the finished product is impressive enough.
The recipe calls for the following:

6 oz. spaghetti

2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1 cup cottage cheese ( I prefer large curd)
1 lb.lean ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
8 oz. (1/2 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce)
1 cup of baby frozen peas
1 tsp.sugar
1 tsp.crushed dried oregano
½ tsp.garlic salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheese (I use more than a cup; sometimes add parmesan to it)

Cook the spaghetti according to package (make sure it's al dente), drain. Stir butter into hot spaghetti. Stir in parmesan cheese and eggs.  Form spaghetti mixture into a “Crust”

in a buttered 10 inch pie plate.

Spread the cottage cheese over the spaghetti“crust”.

 

 

In a skillet, sauté onions in a bit of olive oil, then brown the meat and add the peas. Drain off any excess fat or liquid. Stir in sauce, sugar, oregano & garlic salt; heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Pour the meat mixture into the spaghetti crust. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle the cheese all over the top and bake approximately 5 minutes, or till cheese is melted.

 

 

 

 

I served this with a salad. Very simple and yet satisfying.

 

 

For dessert, we had Blueberry Bread Pudding made by my friend, Sandi.  She didn't have enough blueberries to make a sauce, so I melted some of my salted caramel sauce and poured it over.  I must say that the pudding was loaded with blueberries, and the top was crunchy with loads of pecans, brown sugar and butter but you couldn't see any of these when I drowned the slice with the caramel sauce.

 

Needless to say, we all enjoyed Sandi's Healthy Blueberry Bread Pudding.