What's for Dinner?

Tonight, I tried out a recipe from a sweet Facebook buddy named Mary. She started an awesome recipe exchange for our area that you can check out here. (Feel free to join, even if you are not local.) By the age of 25, you would think I'd have tried baked spaghetti before, but this was a first... and it was delicious!

Baked Spaghetti

1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 lb ground beef/turkey/pork (whichever you choose, seasoned the way you want)
1 tsp. oregano or Italian seasoning (dried is fine)
1 large jar spaghetti sauce
1 -8 oz package mushrooms
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, grated
1 can tomato paste
1 -16 oz container ricotta cheese
2 -8 oz containers grated mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti just until al dente. While the spaghetti is cooking, brown the ground meat along with the oregano, garlic, onion, green pepper and mushrooms. Once done, mix the ground meat mixture with the cooked spaghetti. Add the sauce and tomato paste. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat-add ricotta cheese and stir. Add 1 package of shredded or grated mozzarella cheese-mix. Pour mixture into greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add other package of mozzarella cheese to the top. Place back into the oven, and bake or broil until the cheese is browned.

This is really good served with a Caesar salad and fresh garlic bread!

The only thing I omitted was the mushrooms since my husband can't stand those. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly and had enough to fill a 9x13 pan and an 8x8 pan. Luckily, this seems like it will make really awesome leftovers!