Spaghetti Pie MAKEOVER

Since I'm on a diet, I decided to start digging up some of my old favorite recipes and putting them on a diet as well. After all, when you're trying to lose weight there is no need to deprive yourself of your favorite foods, especially when just a few small changes can make it fit into your new lifestyle!

You all remember Spaghetti Pie, right? If not, where have you been? I'll forgive you if you promise to try this new and improved recipe out. You won't even miss the fat, or the flavor! The exciting part of this recipe is that you get to eat 1/6th of the whole pie for only 9 points! If you decide to make it 8 servings, the points get even better at only 7 points per slice. Personally, I like a lot of food! With a salad or veggie on the side and maybe a piece of garlic toast, its a completely satisfying meal!

Spaghetti Pie

• 8oz whole wheat spaghetti
• 2C Hunt's Traditional Marinara Sauce
• 1lb lean Italian turkey sausage
• 1C part-skim mozzarella cheese,shredded
• 1/4C grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2C fat free ricotta cheese
• 3 egg whites
• Italian seasoning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Brown turkey sausage in skillet with Italian seasoning and cook noodles according to package directions.
Mix all ingredients together except for the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Once well combined, pour spaghetti mixture into a pie plate spray with nonstick spray.
Top with 1C of mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 40 minutes, broiling the top for the last 5 minutes if you want a crunchy cheese topping!

Lasagna

I have to admit, when I tried this recipe out of the Just 5 cookbook, I was skeptical. A recipe for lasagna? With measurements and stuff? Huh? I've never gone by a recipe when I've made lasagna in the past, I just know how to make it and I throw it all together. And I use lots of cheese. LOTS and lots. Cheese in between every layer. When its all said and done I probably use at least four cups of shredded cheese. I told you it was a lot.

 

 

When I saw that this recipe only called for shredded cheese on top, I thought #1, there is no way this will be good, and #2 there is no way its going to stay together without cheese as a binder. Well, I was wrong and wrong! After the first bite, I was so excited at the thought of having leftovers for lunch the next day. Ha! My family devoured the entire pan! Everyone had at least seconds, and one person who shall remain nameless had thirds.

 

 

Since I seem to have an allergy to following recipes as written, I changed some things about this recipe. In the cookbook its called "Beef and Ricotta Lasagna," which is funny because those are the two items I changed! In my Italian dishes I've come to much prefer Italian turkey sausage to beef, every time. Its already seasoned and it just plain tastes better. I've also been a long time fan of cottage cheese over ricotta in lasagna. I'm not sure what it is, but it adds sort of a sweetness to the flavor of the lasagna, not to mention its much cheaper than ricotta. It would really be good with either, so choose what you like best (but don't forget to recalculate your points!). The book lists this as 10 points for 8 slices, but I got it down to 10 points for 6 slices!

 

 

Lasagna

• 12 no cook lasagna noodles
• 4C Hunt's Traditional Marinara Sauce
• 1C part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2C fat free cottage cheese
• 1lb lean Italian turkey sausage
• Spices (I like to add Mrs. Dash's Tomato/Basil/Garlic seasoning to my meat)

 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Brown turkey sausage in a skillet until cooked.
Spoon 1C of sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, then top with 4 lasagna noodles.
Add 1/2 of the meat, then dot with 1C of cottage cheese, top with 1C of sauce.
Place 4 more noodles on top, the rest of the meat mixture, the rest of the cottage cheese and 1C of sauce.
Finally, top with the last 4 noodles and last cup of sauce, finishing with 1C of shredded cheese.
Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and cover dish.
Bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake another 10-15.
Broil the last 5 minutes if you wish.

Spaghetti Tacos

This recipe was the request of my nine year old iCarly fan. If you don't know who iCarly is, you clearly don't have a daughter between the ages of six and ten. It's a program on Nickelodeon about a girl named Carly who creates an internet show called (you guessed it) iCarly with her friends. At some point on this show, spaghetti tacos are introduced. Don't ask me how or why, I have no idea, nor do I care to find out.

So, my daughter asks me if we can have spaghetti tacos for dinner one night and my response was, "Well, which do you want? Spaghetti or tacos?" Of course, she then thought I was the most uncool mom on earth for not knowing what spaghetti tacos were. I consider myself fairly adventurous with my families meals, so I decided, what the hell. I know you're thinking this combination sounds beyond strange, and I completely agree. If you can get past the carb overload, you will be shocked to learn that these are actually not as horrible as they sound!
 

 

The best part about this meal is that you can likely squeeze two dinners out of it! I made regular old spaghetti one night and then a couple nights later we reheated it and turned it into spaghetti tacos. I love two meals for the price of one!


Spaghetti Tacos

• leftover spaghetti
• taco shells
• shredded mozzarella

Directions:
There are no exact directions to follow here. All you need to do is fill the taco shells with some spaghetti and top with cheese! Pop them in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Spaghetti with Meatsauce

I don't think its possible to mess up spaghetti. I've tried, believe me. Any combination of meat, marinara sauce and pasta is pretty much infallible in my book. This is a really, really basic spaghetti that I've been making since the beginning of time. The only "secret" (if there is one) would be the meat I use. Its an italian turkey sausage made by Shadybrook Farms, but I'm sure there are other brands out there that are just as tasty. This has replaced beef in every italian dish I make now. It's delicious! Even skeptical people I've fed it too have conceded to its awesomeness.

If spaghetti sauce is not something you thought you'd ever make from scratch, allow me to convert you. Its so incredibly easy. All you have to do is dump everything in the pot and stir! If I can do this, YOU can do it! Would the recipe even be here if it wasn't practically doable in your sleep?

Spaghetti with Meatsauce

•  1lb spaghetti noodles
• 1lb italian turkey sausage
• 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (15oz) diced italian style tomatoes
• red wine (if you have any on hand, throw a splash in for extra flavor, if you don't just leave it out!)
• 1T tomato paste
• 2T garlic
• 1t sugar
• 1t italian herbs
• 1.5t crushed red pepper

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions.
Brown turkey sausage and garlic (or you can use ground beef) in a large skillet.
Once browned, add all other ingredients and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Serve sauce over noodles.

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Bake

I'm not sure why I call this a "bake" instead of a "casserole." For some reason, a casserole just sounds like something your mother makes, and we're not mothers right? We're cool, trendy cooks! Okay, so some of us are mothers who just pretend to be cool, trendy cooks...but whatever.

You may recall my Tortellini Alfredo recipe from a while back. This meal uses nearly the same alfredo sauce recipe, which is to die for. If you don't want to bake this, you really don't have to it would be wonderful just tossed together. However, I like the crunchy, cheesy topping that results from a quick trip to the oven. Its your choice. This is a dish fancy enough to serve to guests, or it could be a paper-plate-kind-of-dinner...but I don't know who would serve a meal this nice on paper plates...

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Bake

• 1 - 1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or you could strip a rotisserie chicken!)
• 1 box (roughly a pound) of short pasta (I used Ronzini Smart Taste Rotini)
• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• 1C mozzarella cheese
• 1t garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Sauce:

• 1 pint fat free half and half
• 3T low fat cream cheese
• 2/3C grated parmesan cheese
• 1 stick of light butter
• 1t garlic powder

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and saute on medium heat in a large pan with cooking spray. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat.

Add in cream cheese until melted.

Whisk in half and half and garlic powder.

Allow sauce to simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding the parmesan cheese in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Steam spinach in the microwave.

Toss pasta, chicken, spinach and sauce together until well mixed.

Pour into a greased baking dish and top with 1C of mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Parmesan-Herb Ravioli

I've been thinking that I should come up with a rating system for how much I love each recipe I post, and then I realized that on a scale of 1-10, most of them would be 10's or close! I honestly only post recipes that I love, but I realize how ridiculous I probably sound posting everyday about how much I love "today's recipe." But its true, and I really am excited about everything that I post otherwise it wouldn't make the cut, and there are many flops that haven't.

That being said, can I just tell you how much I love today's recipe?? ;-)

This is one of those recipes that you'll probably look at and say "well, what's so special about that?" You'll have to try it to find out! Sometimes less really is more and while this recipe may be lacking in ingredients (a quality that I quite admire!) it certainly has no shortage on flavor. I served this pasta with a side of garlic-butter asparagus, which you can bet will be making its way here soon!

Parmesan Herb Ravioli

• 1 package ravioli, roughly 1-1.5lbs (any kind you like, I used a basic cheese ravioli)
• 2T olive oil
• 1/2t italian seasoning
• 1t garlic salt
• 1/2C parmesan/romano cheese blend

 Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions.

Toss ravioli with olive oil and then mix in herbs and cheese.

Beef Stroganoff

You know you have truly become a food blogger when your family says, "Can we eat dinner yet, or do you still have to take a picture?"

Well, lucky for the family they didn't have to wait too long to dig in to this dinner because I knew there wasn't a chance I was going to get a great photo. Beef stroganoff just isn't very pretty, especially when photographed with my camera. It's a nice little point and shoot camera that does a great job with every day shots, but its just not made for close-up, detailed food photography. One day I will save up enough for my dream camera and blow you guys away with beautiful pictures. Until then, mediocre ones will have to do!

This meal is one I've been making for as long as I can remember. My mom used to make a version of beef stroganoff very similar to this one and it was one of the first things I made on my own. I can't think of a single time I've made this dish and haven't gotten compliments. I don't care what people say about canned soups, this recipe is so good. Its always a huge hit and we rotate it into our dinner plans here about once every other week. If I go too long without making it, the kids start putting in requests! I hope it becomes part of your rotation too!

Beef Stroganoff

• 16oz egg noodles
• 1lb lean ground beef (or turkey will work too)
• 1 large (26oz) can cream of mushroom soup (I used the 98% fat free kind)
• 16oz container of low fat sour cream
• 1t Montreal steak seasoning (or you can simply use salt, pepper and garlic powder)
• 1/4C milk

 Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions.
Brown beef in a large skillet with Montreal steak seasoning until cooked.
Add soup, sour cream and milk.
Stir until incorporated.
Mix in noodles and serve!

Green Pasta

No, the actual pasta is not green! I call this green pasta because of all the green veggies that it contains. With the huge amount of vitamins, fiber and nutrients you'll get from this pasta you can afford to do something crazy for dessert...like a DOUBLE Single Serving Cake! Maybe even with ice cream on the side, you ask? Now now, lets not get carried away. We still have to fit into that wedding dress in a few short months. Oh wait, that's me not you.

This is really a very simple dish, but with all the different flavors going on here, it seems much more complex. Its amazing how an easy cheese sauce really dresses up pasta and vegetables. Wait a minute. What am I saying? Cheese sauce makes everything better! Although this particular cheese sauce is one you can feel good about eating even if you're watching your calories. Its also a very eye appealing meal (though you may not be able to tell from the pictures - I can never get pasta to photograph very well!), and in case you hadn't heard, we eat with our eyes first. It definitely looks fancy enough impress guests and they'd never know how easy it was to prepare. The whole meal from start to finish only took me about 30 minutes to get on the table!

Green Pasta

• 1 12-14oz box short pasta (I used Ronzoni Smart Taste rotini)
• 2C chopped broccoli
• 1C chopped asparagus
• 6C fresh spinach
• 1 12-ounce can fat free evaporated milk
• 1C low sodium chicken stock
• 4T flour
• 1t garlic powder
• 1/2t salt
• 2/3C grated parmesan cheese
• 2T light butter or margarine

Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions, set aside.
Coat a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
Add broccoli, asparagus and spinach to pan and saute on medium heat until vegetables are tender and spinach is wilted.
In a separate bowl, whisk together evaporated milk, flour and stock and pour into vegetables.
Stir until sauce is thick and creamy, then add in cheese until melted.
Stir in 2T of butter until melted and serve!

Adapted from: Parents.com

Tortellini Alfredo

Well my friends, today is an exceptionally special day. Today I am sharing with you one of my all time favorite recipes, and quite possibly my very favorite of all time. Yes, its that serious. Glad I have your full attention now. This concoction is one of my own creations, although the sauce is based off an Olive Garden copycat recipe for alfredo sauce. Believe me when I tell you, this will blow. your. mind. Now, this has the potential to be a relatively healthy dish...I mean it contains spinach, after all! But for every ingredient in this recipe, there is a much healthier alternative, which I will note. I, however, am going to share this recipe with you in most of its full fat glory. When I make this dish I do use low fat substitutions for the cream cheese and the butter, and can't tell much of a difference. Its definitely a dish that's meant to be enjoyed in moderation if you're watching your waisteline, but its so worth indulging in once in a while.

You might think that tortellini is an interesting option for an alfredo dish, after all isn't it tortellini's cousin 'fettucini' that usually gets all the alfredo glory? I used to be of the same mindset that these two were destined to be together. But then I tried making this dish using tortellini in an effort to make it more "finger food friendly" for my toddler, and we ended up absolutely falling in love with the result and I've never used any other pasta since! So before you ask, you can certainly use any type of pasta you like - but I'm telling you right now:

T-O-R-T-E-L-L-I-N-I.

Got it? Good!

Tortellini Alfredo

18 oz cheese tortellini
10oz fresh spinach
1 pint heavy cream (or fat free half and half)
1 stick of butter (I use light butter)
3T cream cheese (I use nuefchatel)
2/3C grated parmesan cheese
1t garlic powder

Directions:

1.Place one stick of butter in a saucepan on medium heat until melted.

2.While thats working, get started on cooking the tortellini according to directions on package. When its finished drain and place back into pot.

3. Once butter is melted, add in cream cheese and whisk until smooth.

4. Next add your cream and garlic powder keeping the sauce on medium low heat, whisking occasionally. The sauce will need to simmer about 20 minutes.

5. Microwave or steam spinach until wilted and mix into the tortellini until well incorporated.

6. After the sauce has simmered for 20 mins, add in the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

7. Once sauce is smooth, pour over tortellini and toss to combine.

Spaghetti Pie

In honor of my first post here on Pie Hole, I thought it only fitting to post a pie recipe! Now, if you're expecting a dessert recipe...look elsewhere. I've never been a fan of traditional fruit pies, I prefer my pies with chocolate, but that's for another day. Today's pie is a savory pie. I've learned that my kids will eat just about anything in the shape of a pie or a mini muffin. I found this recipe on http://www.weelicious.com/, and stuck pretty close with the instructions given, but this is so versatile. The combinations of meat and/or veggies is endless. This was a huge hit at my house and. So much so that when I asked for dinner requests for the next night, one of them was..."Spaghetti Pie?"


Spaghetti Pie (Serves 6)

8 oz Spaghetti, cooked (about 1/2 a package)
2 Large Eggs, whisked
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Lb Ground Turkey (you could also use ground beef or chicken)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Cups Marinara Sauce
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Tsp Italian Herbs
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the cooked spaghetti in a bowl and coat with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

3. Combine the eggs and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Add mixture to the spaghetti and mix.

4. Place the spaghetti mixture into a greased deep-dish pie plate and spread to make a “pie crust”.

5. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the ground turkey, salt, garlic and onion powder for 5 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.

6. Pour the marinara sauce over the meat and stir to combine.

7. In a bowl stir the Ricotta cheese, the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and Italian herbs to combine.

8. Spread the Ricotta/Parmesan cheese mixture over the pasta, then layer the marinara mixture and finally, top with 1 cup of mozzarella.

9. Place dish on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes.

10. Cool, cut into wedges and serve.

Behold...Spaghetti Pie.

One satisfied customer!

Yummy, cheesy goodness!