Baked Spaghetti "My Girl Paula Challenge"

This weeks selection for My Girl Paula, is Baked Spaghetti. I was really excited about this weeks challenge, I love one dish meals and casseroles. Spaghetti just so happens to be my favorite meal so I was really up for this weeks challenge. 

The only time consuming thing was making the homemade spaghetti sauce. It took a little over a hour to cook after that there is pretty much nothing to it. I really liked the change of using cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese instead of mozzarella cheese.

The verdict................... I cant believe I am going to say this, Y'all know how much I love Paula she is definitely my girl, but this dish was just OK to me. Over all I loved the concept of it being a one dish wonder. All in all it was pretty good and my husband liked more than me. 

I just felt that the sauce was kind of bland and needed something. I just couldn't put my finger on it. I will definitely make this dish again, I would just tweak the sauce a bit or use a different homemade spaghetti sauce recipe other than that it was good.

The kids were kind of picky about it, but they are that way with a lot of new things. I do think this is the perfect type of dish to take to a family reunion or a church potluck it is very convenient. If you have a love for Paula Deen and her recipes and you would like to be a part of the fun. Click here and you can join our group, My Girl Paula and start cooking up all her great recipes.

These are the ingredients you will need: diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onion, bell pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, house seasoning, seasoning salt, sugar, bay leaves, ground beef, thin or angel hair pasta, cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese.

adding all the ingredient to make the homemade spaghetti sauce.
cooing the pasta while the sauce is in it's last 20 minutes off simmering.

Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce.


Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese;


repeat the layers, ending with the sauce.



Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes.


Cut into squares before serving.



Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti

2 - cups canned diced tomatoes
2 - cups tomato sauce
1 - cup water
1/2 - cup diced onion
1/2 - cup diced green bell pepper
2 - cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 - cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 - teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 - teaspoons House Seasoning
1 1/2 - teaspoons seasoning salt
1 1/2 - teaspoons sugar
2 - small bay leaves
1 1/2 - pounds ground beef
8 - ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1 - cup grated cheddar cheese
1 - cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. 

Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. 

Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. 

Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. Simmer for 20 more minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. 

Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. Cut into squares before serving.

12 comments

Anonymous said…
Looks good. Sorry it didn't taste that great. I'm sorry to say I did not have time to make it. :( I may not try it now! I'm looking forward to next week's.
Tina Butler said…
I am on my way to see what next weeks challange recipe is. It wasnt bad but it wasnt my favorite either. I think it was the flavor of the sauce really, because everything else was great.
Lara said…
It does look good, but it's a bummer that it didn't turn out that great. I've had a couple of duds this past week too.
T. in NYC said…
Hi Tina,

I can actually just read the ingredient list for that sauce and tell you that it would be listless and flat. I would suggest adding fresh basil, fresh parsley, dried oregano, anise, carrot (grated to a pulp) for sweetness, and white wine if you have any on hand. Also, if you like it less acidic, you could add a little brown or cane sugar.

Italian dishes will either succeed or fail because of their marinara sauce so its important to kick the flavor up.

I have a question for you: I want to make your most recent buttermilk chicken tender recipe, but how do I keep the oil from popping. Hot oil scares me and it always seems to splatter, so I never fry anything. Do you have any suggestions about how I can prevent this?

Thanks.
Amy said…
The baked spaghetti I make is always I hit when I make it for people. I use Ragu (I add onions, green peppers, and a package of spaghetti seasoning mix) because I am lazy but you could make your own homemade sauce. Instead of mixing all the ingredients together like this recipe you stack them like lasanga (sp?). Spray the bottom of a glass casserole dish with cooking spray, use cooked spaghetti noodles to make a pretty thick bottom layer. Then sprinkle parm. cheese on that layer. The add whatever kind of sauce layer you want to use. Then top with mont. jack cheese and place pepperonis on top of the cheese.
Tina Butler said…
I am lazy to and use Ragu my favorite is the Super Chunky Mushroom. I love the flavor and I couldnt get close to making it If I did it myself. I was thinking the same thing when i was eating the spaghetti I bet ragu would make a difference. I will probably go that route next time. But the Paula Challange was follow the recipe exactly. Hey I do remember Paula always saying follow the recipe to the "T" the first time then if you dont like it, make it your own and change it up.
Well, Tina, you put one over on me. I swear I had never heard of or thought of baking spaghetti. I'm hoping it was just as delicious as the kind you normally make. You are such an adventurous soul.
teresa said…
Sorry that it didn't work out the way you wanted. But I actually think I'm going to make this tomorrow, I'll just look out for the sauce! Thanks for the tip!
Sherri Murphy said…
Looks great. Once you figure out what was lacking, tell us so we can adjust the recipe as well.
nick0166 said…
have made this with paulas version and our 'tweaked' version- like ours better.

we use prego with mushrooms OR sausage instead of making homemade sauce (a. its quicker b. flavor is better- we only add a little spices)

then we use either italian sausage (if we use prego mushroom) combined with hamburger
or
we will saute mushrooms in butter and white wine (yum), chop fine, then add to hamburger

also use combo of jack and cheddar, but we put down a layer of parmesan first-either fresh or canned, depending on what we have on hand, and use less of the jack cheddar mix then....
Anonymous said…
I made this once I saw it on your monthly menu, and we all loved it in our family!! I followed the recipe exactly, may have added a bit more of certain things ( I made it a few weeks ago so can't remember now) but it was so good!! I added a ton more cheese though and used parm and reg chedder so it was more like lasagna.
Jane said…
I really love your Baked spaghetti... Looks delicious. I will try your recipe this weekend.