Recipe Collection: Real Food Adapted Baked Spaghetti

I must confess, I'm addicted to spaghetti. I have been pretty much since birth; Nana can attest to that. Miss Moo has received this gene from me and would eat pasta of any variety every day if I'd let her. I've been on a quest for the perfect baked spaghetti even since this pregnancy began. I've made some that were decent, but I haven't had much luck with gluten free noodles staying, well, noodle like.

Tonight I adapted a recipe that I found on All Recipe to make it GF and full of Real Food. This dish was on our Meal Plan for Wednesday but circumstances of time, or lack there of, moved it to tonight. I was very satisfied with the end result and will make it again with the following tweaks. The recipe below is my adapted recipe from the original that I linked. (I haven't made all the changes below to this batch, so yours will look slightly different from the photo.)

Real Food Baked Spaghetti

Preparation time:
30 mins

 Cooking time:
1 hour

Total time:
1 hour 30 minutes

Allergens:
Dairy (Casein), egg

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 1 lb. grass fed, ground beef (ours is local)
• 1 organic yellow onion, diced
• 2 jars homemade OR organic tomato basil pasta sauce
• 3 tbsp organic Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Real Salt

Ingredients for the Noodles:

• 1 package (16 oz.) Trader Joe's corn spaghetti (although I am skeptical of corn, this is the ONLY noodle that comes close to holding it's texture)
• 2 eggs (ours are local, free range)
• 5 tbsp organic salted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Additional Ingredients for Layering:

• 5 cups freshly shredded, whole milk mozzarella
• 2 cups organic, whole milk, small curd cottage cheese

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop onion, grate cheeses, and divide cottage cheese evenly.
3. Grease lasagna dish or 9 x 13 inch dish.
4. Add chopped onion, ground beef, and Italian seasoning to heated pan and cook, breaking up meat and mixing thoroughly until the onion is translucent and the beef is completely browned.
5.  Add sauce to meat and onions and stir until completely combined.  Remove from heat.
6. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with warm water to stop the cooking process.
7. Beat the eggs.
8. Melt butter over medium heat just until it has melted completely.
9. Combine butter, eggs, and Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Add the noodles to the egg solution and toss until the noodles are completely covered.
10. Place 1/2 the noodles in the bottom of the greased dish. Place 1 cup of cottage cheese upon the noodles. Spread evenly.
11. Add 2 cups of Mozzarella on top of the cottage cheese.
12. Spoon 1/2 the meat sauce mixture on top of the Mozzarella.
13. Repeat the layering with the other 1/2 of the noodles, remaining cup of cottage cheese, 2 cups Mozzarella, and remaining meat sauce mixture.
14. Cover with foil and bake for 40 mins.
15. Remove foil, add remaining 1 cup of Mozzarella, and bake for 20 mins or until the cheese is browned.
16. Removed from heat and serve.

We all loved this dish. Roo ate 3 plates ;)

I served this dish along with a salad of organic: spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, egg, bacon, and goat cheese topped with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!