Spaghetti Pie

8 servings
Total price: NY $11.93
Price per serving: NY $1.49


This is an adaptation of a recipe my mother used to make when I was kid, which she got off the back of a package of mozzarella cheese. The original called for jarred spaghetti sauce, butter, and hefty portions of full fat cheeses (surprising, a recipe calling for large quantities of cheese being promoted by a cheese manufacturer. . . ). I’ve updated this by adding spinach, subbing a quick homemade marinara for the jarred stuff, and taking a more restrained approach to the cheeses. (As you can tell from the pictures, its still plenty cheesy!)


This one’s great for kids as it ends up looking something like a deep dish pizza, and its less messy than regular spaghetti as the pieces get baked together: thus, no twirling is required and individual pieces can’t be pulled out with the fingers to be dropped on the floor, hung in the hair, or flung at the wall.


Ingredients

• 8 ounces spaghetti (NY $0.85)
• 2 large eggs (NY $0.33)
• ½ cup parmesan cheese (staple)
• 1 tbsps plus 1 tsp olive oil (staple)
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (NY $1.69)
• 1 small onion (NY $0.59)
• 1 clove garlic (NY $0.50 for one head)
• 1 tsp oregano (staple)
• 1 tsp tomato paste (staple)*
• 1 10 oz package frozen spinach (NY $0.99)
• 1 15 oz container part skim ricotta (NY $3.79)
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella (NY $3.19 for 7 oz unshredded)
• Black pepper (staple)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put water on to boil. Lightly grease a 10 inch pie plate with olive oil or cooking spray and set aside.

Dice onion and mince garlic. Cook in 1 tbsp olive oil until onions are just translucent, approx. 5-8 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with their juice, along with oregano and tomato paste

Thaw spinach, then drain in colander. Place ricotta in bowl and combine with spinach by removing small clump of spinach from colander, squeezing vigorously to remove remaining moisture, and then adding to ricotta. Add a few grinds black pepper and stir to combine.


Meanwhile, cook spaghetti until just al dente, drain and toss in large bowl with one tsp olive oil. Whisk eggs with a fork in a small bowl with 1/3 cup shredded parmesan. Toss with spaghetti. Add spaghetti to prepared pie plate. Shape into crust shape by using fingers to flatten center (ooo, smooshy and slimy!) and press up the sides of the plate. Add spinach-ricotta mixture to indentation in center. Top with tomato sauce and bake, uncovered, 25 minutes.


Top with shredded mozzarella and remaining shredded parmesan. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes, then slice into 8 wedges and serve.


* If you buy tomato paste in a tube instead of in a can, it will last almost indefinitely. So if you’re checking out and the woman behind you asks why you’re buying the tube kind, you’ll have a better answer than the LBUH who replied, “Because that’s the kind She asked for.” (Of course, the woman who asked and the checkout clerk both seemed to agree that his was, in fact, a pretty darn good answer.)


Nutritional Facts
Approximate values per serving

Calories 196.0	Vitamin B-6 5.1 %	Manganese 18.9 %
Total Fat 9.3 g	Vitamin C 7.2 %	Niacin 3.5 %
Cholesterol 72.4 mg	Vitamin D 1.6 %	Phosphorus 19.0 %
Sodium 238.5 mg	Vitamin E 3.1 %	Riboflavin 14.8 %
Potassium 195.0 mg	Calcium 26.5 %	Selenium 28.4 %
Total Carbohydrate 16.4 g	Copper 4.8 %	Thiamin 6.7 %
Protein 12.3 g	Folate 16.1 %	Zinc 8.9 %
Vitamin A 49.3 %	Iron 7.7 %
Vitamin B-12 5.8 %	Magnesium 9.3 %