Easy Baked Spaghetti

Happy Monday! And Happy August! I can't believe we are already here, where did the first half of the year go?

In the spirit of Monday I am sharing one of my favorite simple recipes. Now don't get me wrong, one of my favorite things to do is pour myself a big glass of wine, turn on my relaxing music and cook. It de-stresses me and I just love doing it. However, on a Monday after working all day, I am going for something that is quick and simple to prep. Enter Baked Spaghetti.

White Baking Dish

Awhile back in college I was craving a baked pasta dish with all the simple and delicious flavor of spaghetti. I googled "baked spaghetti recipes" thinking there would be endless options of recipes using the simple ingredients I already had on hand for spaghetti. Wrong. I found all sorts of recipes with all sorts of different ingredients included- cottage cheese, cream of mushroom, eggs, etc. None of which I had on hand or really wanted to put in my dish so I came up with my own recipe using basic spaghetti ingredients- marinara sauce, noodles, ground beef and cheese. Much to my surprise it turned out delicious, and is still one of my favorites to make to date.

The dish can easily be made ahead of time and baked when you are ready to enjoy it making it perfect for dinner parties or meal prepping on a Sunday. I also love how versatile it is. You can substitute the ground beef for ground turkey or italian sausage, add in veggies if you want some added greens, or leave out the meat all together if that's your thing. So without further ado, here's how you prepare it:

Ingredients:

1-2 Jars of Marinara Sauce (If you're in the KC area- Cascone's is my favorite)

Whole Wheat Penne Pasta Noodles

1 LB. Ground Beef (or meat of your choice)

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese (Shredded or fresh)

Pictured: Utensil Holder - Cutting Board (Similar here)- Serving Bowl

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brown ground beef in skillet on medium heat until cooked through. 
3. While cooking beef, cook pasta according to instructions- be sure not to overcook as pasta will continue to cook while in oven. 
4. When the ground beef is cooked through, drain the fat and return to the skillet. 
5. Pour 1 jar of the marinara sauce into the skillet and combine it with the ground beef. Once combined, reduce the heat to low. 
6. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add the pasta to the skillet and mix it together with the meat and marinara. (Optional- if you like the pasta really cheesy you can add in some mozzarella and parmesan cheese at this point so it gets extra cheesy and delicious). 
7. Once everything is mixed together, pour in a oven safe baking dish. If you like your pasta extra saucy then I recommend adding the other jar of marinara sauce in at this point. 
8. Top the mixture with additional mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese to your liking. 
9. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 
10. To finish it off and get that beautiful bubbly finish, flip on your oven broiler and broil until the cheese turns brown and starts to bubble.
11. Serve and enjoy!

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XO, Jenny