Baked Spaghetti

Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti. I found the recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked like something easy that would make good leftovers.

     I changed a couple things in the recipe occasionally on purpose and occasionally by accident (this happens with most of my cooking). Anyway I exchanged the beef with chicken, used a bit more of the bell pepper, parsley and onions (because I didn't want to waste them). Used almost twice as much cheese, and half a cup less diced tomatoes than the recipe called for. Oh, and I couldn't find just Monterey Jack cheese or Cheddar that were pre-shredded so I just got the Mexican blend that I saw at Kroger.

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

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

     Now this took a good deal longer than I'd originally planned, and I wasn't able to get started till around 8:30 which means dinner wasn't ready till around 10:20 (Suuuper late). So I definitely recommend starting this way before you need to or planning for it to take at least 2 hours start-finish.