Recipe: Baked Spaghetti

I got a request from a reader (thanks yuko!) for my Baked Spaghetti recipe so here I am to share it! Always a pleasure to share recipes. 🙂 My recipe is super specific, down to the brand name but this is what I do to make some gooood baked spaghetti. I’ll share some pictures and the recipe after the cut.

140116-01This is the stuff! Ooey, gooey and delicious. Join me won’t you?

140116-02Ground beef ready to go!

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Ground beef and minced onions

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This is how the dish looks like after the initial baking. This includes the noodles, pasta sauce and cheddar cheese. 

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After the first bake, you sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Baked Spaghetti

32 oz. Meatless spaghetti sauce, any flavor  –  I use Hunt’s Brand – Garlic and Herb  (in the 26 oz. aluminum can) – update: 5/4/14, they sneakily now make the cans in 24 oz. sizes. When the Hunt’s brand canned spaghetti sauce is on sale, it is much cheaper than the glass jars so I just buy two but still measure out 32 oz. for this recipe.
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery, and onion – do not drain (I use Hunt’s brand once again)
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
1 box (lb.) spaghetti or angel hair pasta, whichever you prefer – I use Barilla brand spaghetti
1 8 oz. bag shredded mild cheddar cheese
1 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese (you can add more if you like a lot of cheese for both cheeses, for these pictures, I used only one each…when I’ve made the recipe in other times…I’ve added more mozzarella)

Either one 13 x 9 baking pan or two 8 inch baking pans.
Olive Oil Spray – to grease the pan(s)

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Break the pasta into 3 inch lengths. I usually yield about 3 “sticks” from each stick of spaghetti and then cook according to package directions. I usually remove it about 2-3 minutes before the pasta is cooked. The pasta will continue to cook later in the sauce and eventually in the oven so you don’t want to overcook the pasta. Rinse and drain the pasta, place aside.

Brown onions and ground beef together until the beef is cooked through. Drain excess grease if necessary. Stir in spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes with the beef mixture and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Stir in the pasta. Once incorporated, stir in all the cheddar cheese. Stir the mixture until cheese is completely melted.

Grease your baking pan(s) and place your pasta mixture in.

Bake the spaghetti for 15 minutes, take the pan(s) out and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes more or until the cheese has melted to your liking. Enjoy!

Note: Another great thing about this recipe is that it freezes very nicely!

140116-06You won’t regret making this.  Adult and kids enjoy it! Let me know how it goes if you make it! 

Cafe Sistina – Honolulu, HI

Sometimes, I think Cafe Sistina gets a bad rap.  I wouldn’t recognize the restaurant as the best Italian restaurant out there but it certainly isn’t bad!  Some people are a bit ruthless in their critique.  I had dinner here last week and I had a great meal.  Let me share with you the pictures of the food.

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Fresh bread served with pesto flavored butter – yummy

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Favorite Pasta Dish

For the longest time, I’ve been telling my friend about my favorite dish from Assaggio’s.  It’s not technically on the menu but I learned of this dish a few years back.  They have an appetizer called Hot Antipasto.  This hot antipasto is comprised of huge luscious pieces of seafood in a wonderful sauce.  It must have been the waitress who served us who said this is the best antipasto and that you can get it on pasta!  I took her word for it on my next visit and haven’t turned back since.  So the next time you go to Assaggio’s or Paesano (same menu!), order the Hot Antipasto on linguine.  Or whatever noodles you want but I like it on linguine.  Well after many suggestions, she finally ordered a few weeks ago and LOVED it!  She even sent me a picture so I’ll post it here.  All credit goes to her.  🙂

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Tell me that doesn’t look amazing…

Orecchiette with Kale

I’ve been looking at my blog the past few days and could have swore I had scheduled out updates all week!  So then I realized I had got all my pictures ready for posting but hadn’t actually done any write-ups.  Sorry!  It’s been crazy busy at work and next week will be even worst so I need to really schedule some things up for posting this weekend.  I wanted to share something I made about two weeks back.  I’ve been trying to cook lunch for work to save money and in hopes of eating healthier!  Here is a dish I made out of orecchiette, anchovies, kale, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and pork meatballs.  I’m really getting into kale just cooked down in a dish.  Kale chips, I’ll pass on those.

Anyhow, the dish came out great!  I don’t put too much seasonings so some may think it’s a bit bland but I really enjoyed it.  I also felt like this dish kept me full a lot longer.  It was great.  I will definitely try to make it again!

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Blacksmith – Jongno-gu, Seoul

Will this week turn into all posts from Korea?  Quite possibly!  We had a long day of touring the Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul – this is a famous palace that includes a tour of the secret garden. It was a beautiful day – one of the warmest we had while we were there.  I didn’t find that too helpful since I wore warm clothes and we did a LOT of walking to get to this palace.  Anyhow, we decided to go to Blacksmith for a late lunch after the Palace tour and I am quite happy we did!  This is a famous chain Italian restaurant whose spokespeople are Song Seung Hun, Kim Tae Hee and Park Yoochun!  It looks like Song Seung Hun is also the CEO of this restaurant so kudos to him!  Let’s get to the pictures!

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Baked Spaghetti

Short update for today, I usually line up a few posts at a time so I have been slacking!  Here’s a quick picture of a Baked Spaghetti I did on a Sunday a while back.  I love this Baked Spaghetti recipe and it’s been a big hit to people I serve it to!  It’s gooey and delicious…perfect for that lazy Sunday.  If anyone is interested in the recipe, I’d be more than happy to share it.

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La Cucina Ristorante Italiana

When La Cucina Ristorante Italiana was opening up, I got really excited.  A lot of people in Hawaii are excited for an Olive Garden to open up in Hawaii but I don’t see what the big deal is.  The first time I got to try Olive Garden, I was super excited and thought everything was great!  Now that I’ve been to Olive Garden a few times, I am no longer a fan.  The last meal I had there was terrible and I will never forget it.

Anyhow, La Cucina Ristorante Italiana is very busy and they do not take reservations for less than 4 people.  This restaurant is also a one man kitchen so the wait for food takes a bit longer.  It’s a small space and there are only two tables against the wall that seat 2.  I went on a weekday right at 5:30 pm and got a table, thank god!  By the way, the street parking fronting these shops open up at 5:30 pm as well…I lurked around the corner until it was 5:30 pm exactly and made a run for it…lol.  Ohhh let’s get to the food pictures!

As Ina Garten would say, GOOD Olive OIl and Balsamic Vinegar for your bread

As Ina Garten would say, GOOD Olive OIl and Balsamic Vinegar for your bread

My attempt at an arty shot of water.  This is the bottle they leave at your table for water refills.  Love it.

This is the bottle they leave at your table for water refills. Love it.

Crostini Al Porcini - A nice slice of melted mozzarella lays hidden underneath a mixture of porcini mushrooms, basil and truffle oil.  Delicious!

Crostini Al Porcini – A nice slice of melted mozzarella lays hidden underneath a mixture of porcini mushrooms, basil and truffle oil. Delicious!

Trenette Aragosta - it usually comes with tagliolini but I really wanted to try the trenette style pasta.  It was a great choice.

Trenette Aragosta – it usually comes with tagliolini but I really wanted to try the trenette style pasta. It was a great choice.

I always try to get a fork shot of the noodles.  Delicious looking right?

I always try to get a fork shot of the noodles. Delicious looking right?

I can’t wait to get back to this restaurant and try more dishes.  I gotta admit, the difficulty in getting a table has prevented me from returning as of yet.  If you’re going to take your guest to any Italian restaurant in Hawaii, you need to get them to this restaurant.  I really want to try their Osso Buco but have read that you need to order this ahead of time and I assume they will only put in this order if you have a reservation.  So when you get together a table of four, do it!