Spaghetti Bake

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

366 people added this to their Recipe Box

Spaghetti Bake
Photography by David Scott

This recipe makes 8 servings

Nutritional Info
Per serving: about	-
cal	441441 cal
pro	25 g25g pro
total fat	21 g21g total fat
sat. fat	10 g10g sat. fat
carb	39 g39g carb
fibre	5 g5g fibre
chol	89 mg89mg chol
sodium	635 mg635mg sodium
% RDI:	-
calcium	2323 calcium
iron	2626 iron
vit A	7070 vit A
vit C	7272 vit C
folate	1818 folate

This hearty dish will have your guests begging for the recipe. Be sure to bring it with you! Grating the vegetables reduces the amount of chopping and cooking time.

Ingredients

8 oz spaghetti 8 8oz ozspaghetti
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 1/4cup cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
Tomato Beef Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil 1 1tbsp tbspolive oil
1 onion , chopped1 1oniononions, chopped
3 cloves garlic , minced3 3cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano 1 1tsp tspdried oregano
1 tsp dried basil 1 1tsp tspdried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 1/2tsp tspdried thyme
1 lb lean ground beef 1 1lb lblean ground beef
2 cups sliced mushrooms 2 2cups cupssliced mushroommushrooms
2 carrots , grated2 2carrotcarrots, grated
2 zucchinis , grated2 2zucchinizucchinis, grated
1 sweet red pepper , diced1 1sweet red peppersweet red peppers, diced
1 can (28 oz/796 mL) tomatoes , chopped1 1can (28 oz/796 mL) can (28 oz/796 mL)tomatotomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste 1/3 1/3cup cuptomato paste
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 1/2tsp tspsalt
1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 1/2tsp tsppepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 1/4cup cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 1tbsp tbspbalsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
Cheese Sauce:
2 tbsp butter 2 2tbsp tbspbutter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour 2 2tbsp tbspall-purpose flour
1 cup milk 1 1cup cupmilk
1 cup ricotta cheese 1 1cup cupricotta cheese
1 egg , lightly beaten1 1eggeggs, lightly beaten
1 pinch salt 1 1pinch pinchsalt

Preparation

Tomato Beef Sauce: In Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook onion, garlic, oregano, basil and thyme, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes or until softened. Add beef; cook, breaking up with spoon, for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

Add mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and red pepper; cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until liquid is evaporated. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat; stir in Parmesan cheese and vinegar.

Cheese Sauce: Meanwhile, in saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; whisk in flour and cook, whisking, for 1 minute. Whisk in milk in thin steady stream until smooth; cook, whisking often, for 2 to 4 minutes or until boiling and thickened. Transfer to bowl; let cool for 10 minutes. Blend in ricotta, egg and salt.

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti for 5 minutes or until almost tender but still firm. Drain and toss with beef sauce. Spread in 13- x 9-inch (3 L) baking dish; spoon cheese sauce over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in 350ºF (180ºC) oven for about 40 minutes or until golden and bubbling.