One Dish Spaghetti

By sherryl61

I made this dish "accidentally" because I didn't want to dirty up several pans. The spaghetti cooks in the oven and frees you up to do other things. It turned out to be some of the best-tasting spaghetti I've had from a package. GREAT for working moms! (NOTE: spice amounts are what I like. You can adjust accordingly to make it your own.)

Ingredients

• 1 pound package spaghetti of choice, uncooked
• 24 ounce jar of favorite spaghetti sauce (I like Prego or Barilla) or homemade sauce (you can get approximate size, doesn't have to be exact)
• 24 ounces water (equal to amount of spaghetti sauce-I use the jar to measure it)
• 1 or 2 tablespoons dry Italian seasoning blend
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (you can omit if desired)
• 4 ounces of grated cheese (either mild cheddar or Parmesan blend)

Details

Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 40mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In bottom of 13 x 9 casserole dish, combine spaghetti sauce, water, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

3. Break up the spaghetti into half or thirds and layer it in the sauce mixture. DO NOT precook the spaghetti! Make sure the spaghetti is submerged in the sauce mixture; otherwise it dries out during baking.

4. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. I don't stir it during baking, but you can about halfway through if you desire.

5. Remove casserole and uncover. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake additional 5 or so minutes until cheese is melted. I don't like it browned but you can leave it longer if you like the browned cheese taste.

Serve with favorite salad and wine. The sauce permeates the spaghetti giving it a rich, hearty flavor. If you desire meat with your sauce, brown 1 pound of ground beef with one chopped onion and about 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder in oven-safe deep skillet or Dutch oven. After browning, add the sauce and proceed as directed to get the same results, only with meat. Mangia!