Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » Creamy Spaghetti Casserole Recipe and our #CleanPlate Dinner
by Diane Hoffmaster
Disclosure: Compensation for this Creamy Spaghetti Casserole Recipe was provided by Contadina via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Contadina
My husband’s all time favorite meal is lasagna and do you know how often I make it for him? Once a year. Why? Because I have an intense dislike of layering things with lasagna noodles. Trying to get them to cook properly is hard enough…they always seem to stick together and I end up burning my fingers trying to separate them. Then I start layering them with the cheese and I start tearing them and getting sauce everywhere. I am a pretty good cook but honestly I HATE making lasagna. Of course, the husband asks….some weeks BEGS me to make him his favorite meal. Talk about guilt! Yes, I could teach him how to make lasagna but that is probably never going to happen. When I came across a spaghetti casserole recipe I decided to try to modify it a bit to mimic his favorite lasagna. All the flavor with a lot less work!
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We love our tomato sauce chunky with lots of fresh veggies in it. To begin this casserole recipe I started with fresh peppers and onions, organic ground beef and a few cans of Contadina tomato sauce and tomato paste. The resulting sauce was hearty and flavorful. Add in seasonings to taste. I used dried oregano and basil from my garden and some garlic salt. If you have picky eaters who don’t like chunks of veggies you can cook them up and puree them into the sauce. It is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables without them even realize they are doing it!
One of the things I really love about this casserole recipe is that it makes a huge pan and there are plenty of leftovers. I love leftovers because honestly I am too lazy to have to cook a big meal every night. Not to mention that some nights I need to work and am not home to cook. While my husband can feed the kids when he needs to, the last thing he wants to deal with after a long day at work is making dinner. He appreciates leftover nights just as much as I do! I hope you enjoy this casserole recipe and see plenty of clean plates when dinner is over!
Creamy Spaghetti Casserole Recipe
Yield: 8 to 10
Creamy Spaghetti Casserole Recipe
An easy casserole recipe full of fresh flavor and easy to make.
In a large saute pan brown the ground beef until almost done. Drain fat if needed. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. saute 3 to 4 minutes. Add Contadina sauce and paste, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Let simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
When pasta is done cooking, drain and place in a large bowl. Add the sour cream, ricotta cheese and 8 ounces of the shredded Italian cheese. Mix well until combined.
In a 13 x 9 inch pan place a layer of the tomato sauce. Top with a layer of pasta/cheese. Continue layering until they are both gone.
Sprinkle remaining 8 ounces of Italian cheese on top of the casserole and place in oven.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until bubbly and top is lightly brown. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
I bet I’m not the only one who loves an easy casserole recipe and they are usually a big hit with the kids. When the kids are happy with dinner that means I see lots of clean plates without a lot of arguing! A clean plate is the sign of a truly delicious meal and when it comes from serving fresh, wholesome foods to my family I am even happier. If you want to see a few more clean plate inspiring recipes, check out the Contadina Pinterest board below!
Every mealtime masterpiece starts with Contadina and ends with a clean plate. While many people enjoy posting photos of their food before they eat, we believe that a clean plate afterwards is the true testament to a delicious meal. And that meal is a labor of love, so share your gratitude with a clean plate celebration on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Contadina
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Contadina via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Contadina
Diane Hoffmaster
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician atGood Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at theUniversity of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
The most popular way to cook spaghetti is simple. Put the pasta into plenty of boiling water, stir it, bring it to a simmer, turn the heat off, put a lid on and leave it to finish cooking for 10-12 mins. This method works perfectly fine.
Spaghetti typically takes 8-10 minutes. Linguine is thicker and may take 10 or more minutes to cook. Fettuccine can also take 10 or more minutes. It's crucial to stir long noodles as they're cooking, to prevent the strands from all sticking together and creating a lump of pasta.
Using canned or jarred tuna in pasta is a cheap and delicious way to add some protein to a meal. Italians do it with pasta al tonno, and Americans do it (in our own way) with tuna noodle casserole. This recipe is a bit of a riff on pasta puttanesca, using familiar ingredients such as capers, anchovies, and olives.
Most dried ribbons of pasta such as linguine, spaghetti and tagliatelle take between 8-10 mins. Shorter, thicker pasta shapes like bows or penne take 10-12mins and fresh pasta such as ravioli and tortellini will be done between 3-5mins.
First, in authentic Italian cuisine, the sauce is always tossed with the pasta before it ever hits the plate. Just before the sauce is done cooking, the hot pasta is added to the saucepan. Generally speaking, we recommend cooking the pasta in the sauce together for about 1-2 minutes.
It's okay to put a lid on the pot while you are waiting for the water to boil. However, after it starts to boil and you add the pasta to the water, you should remove the lid to prevent the water from bubbling over.
Fresh pasta takes considerably less time to cook than dried, usually 1 to 3 minutes, so watch it carefully. To test, remove a noodle with tongs or a long-handled fork and take a bite. Pasta is best when cooked al dente (tender but firm to the bite). As soon as it is done, drain in a colander.
Cheese and dairy give sauces creaminess while butter and oil give them richness. You also don't need to use a lot — these are just for finishing and rounding out the flavors in a sauce. Whole Milk or Heavy Cream: Add a splash and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.
Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.
Neither overcooked nor undercooked pasta is better for eating, but it is far better for most pastas to be undercooked in salty water prior to saucing. Pasta heated in the skillet with sauce has a vastly different and superior flavor and texture compared with pasta that is simply sauced on the plate.
But what it does mean for a home cook is this: Any time you are planning on baking pasta in a casserole, there is no need to precook it. All you have to do is soak it while you make your sauce, then combine the two and bake.
To digest it, the pasta must fully gelatinize the starch granules which turns the noodles into an energy drainer in your body.” Keeping the pasta boiling for too long will also cause the starch to release into the water resulting in a loss of nutrients.
Let the ends stick out until the submerged sections soften, about 1 minute. Then stir to bend the pasta and push it underwater. You don't want short strands. Pasta should be long enough to twirl around your fork.
Dry spaghetti rehydrates in about ten minutes in boiling water, and in around two hours in room-temperature water, so you can soak your spaghetti for a couple of hours to complete the first half of the process without using energy to boil water.
Break your spaghetti noodles in half if you need to so they all get submerged in the sauce. Bring it to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low or medium-low for 15 minutes, stirring once to make sure it doesn't stick. After 15 minutes, check that your noodles are done, and serve immediately.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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