Thursday, March 6, 2014

Spaghetti Pie: Meal in a Muffin


These Spaghetti Pie Muffins are an adaptation of my recipe for "Spaghetti Pie" the casserole. They are just delicious.  You can, of course, make this recipe in a 9x13 casserole pan, but making them into muffins is a fun variation that is also a wonderful way to have ready made meals in the freezer.  They can be warmed up in a jiffy for snack, lunch or dinner.  Try making a double of this recipe; putting one into a casserole dish for dinner, and the rest into muffin pans for lunch boxes, or an after school snacks.  They are a handy ready to go serving.  Just dish them up with a salad and Enjoy.  If you like this recipe, here are two more muffin meals you might want to try: Shepherd's Pie Muffin Meal and Eggplant Parmigiana Muffin Meal.



 Begin by browning 1 lb of lean sausage or ground beef  in olive oil.  Add seasonings to the meat; (I made mine like I do for the homemade sausage.

 Stir, brown and add 1 can of tomato sauce.

While the sauce is cooking, prepare your spaghetti crust by stirring 1/4 cup of butter into 4 cups of pre-cooked spaghetti noodles.

In a measuring bowl, put 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and 2 eggs.

Whisk together well, and add to the spaghetti mixture.  Mix all together.



Divide spaghetti mixture into 12 muffin cups.  Form them into little nests, with the spaghetti coming up the sides of the muffin cups.


 Next mix together 3/4 of a cup of cottage cheese and 1/4 a cup of parmesan cheese.


Spread this mixture over the spaghetti nests.


 Once Spaghetti sauce is done, spoon evenly into the nests.





 Top with Mozzerella Cheese.


 Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until cheese is lightly browned.



 Garnish and serve.


 Makes 12 large muffins.


Spaghetti Pie Muffins

For the Crust:

8 ounces of spaghetti or 4 cups cooked spaghetti (Whole Wheat, Brown Rice, or for low carb Dreamfields Spaghetti all work fine if you want to substitute them).
1/3 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Mix together spaghetti and butter.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. 
  4. Add Parmesan cheese and mix well.
  5. Pour egg mixture into into spaghetti and butter mixture and mix well.
  6. Spray 2 large muffin pans with cooking spray.
  7. Divide spaghetti mixture evenly into 12 muffin cups.
  8. Press spaghetti to form a little nest in each muffin cup.
For the filling
Ingredients:
3/4   cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions:
  1. Mix together both cheeses
  2. spread over inside of spaghetti nests.
For Sauce
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pounds lean hamburger or sausage
1/2 tsp crushed dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper seeds
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Instructions:
  1. Pour olive oil into pan, add meat and seasonings and brown. (with a very lean meat, there is nothing to drain… if you do have excess fat, go ahead and drain after it is browned).
  2. Add tomato sauce.
  3. Stir and simmer 10 minutes
  4. Spoon evenly over spaghetti nests
  5. Top each with mozzarella cheese.
  6. Bake approximately 30 minutes until cheese is lightly browned.
Click here for other muffin recipes
Enjoy!

37 comments:

  1. Oh My Gosh Pam... you had me at spaghetti! Yum, do these ever look heavenly. I'm all about one bite dishes right now. I have left over noodles from the other night, so I might just make these tonight for dinner.

    I hope you are having a great day!

    Hugs,
    Amy

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  2. Oh! These look SO good!
    Too bad that we did not see this earlier this week as we are having company come and we made up some meals ahead of time; one of them being spaghetti dinner...we would have made these instead! They look wonderful and we will give these a try sometime!
    Thank you for all of your sweet comments on our blog. They are a blessing!
    Blessings to you~
    Maggie

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  3. Yum!! We can't get the Dreamfields noodles here, but I'm off to New Orleans with Murray later this month, so I'll have to see if I can find them then. This will be a HUGE hit with the little ones! Thank you for sharing your fantastic recipes. I should make a board on my Pinterest titled "Pam". :o)

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  4. These look SO GOOD!!! I must give them a try. :) Hugs, Camille

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  5. Is there any "evidence" of the cottage cheese after it is cooked? My hubby is opposed to it (not allergic) when he can see it. Thanks!

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  6. Hi Amy,
    You know I don't notice the cottage cheese at all… it is like lasagna… it is nice and creamy, but not at all cottage cheesy. You could use ricotta cheese as an exact replacement if you wanted to… or do both and let him have a bite with the cottage cheese, I think he would still love it, and wouldn't even know it is there.

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    Replies
    1. I don't like cottage cheese either and was wondering the same thing about ricotta. I always substitute the two and will definately use it. It's a texture thing with me.

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    2. Linda and Amy, I don't see any reason why you couldn't use ricotta as a substitute. I would love to hear what you think when you try it like that.

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  7. These sound really nice! I'm going to make them over the weekend I think. Thanks!

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  8. I love the idea of these for an upcoming party. Is there a way to print this recipe?m. Thanks.

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  9. Hi Bill,
    I don't have a recipe print app attached yet… its on my to do list and coming soon... in the meantime this is it. Sorry about that. Enjoy the recipe its a yummy one.

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  10. This looks like a great recipe for a household with snackers and people who aren't home for dinner, but I have a question.

    Are these made in the BIG muffin tins, the Jumbo ones where each well holds about a cup, or are they the standard size where each muffin cup holds just under a 1/2 cup? Looking at the amount of spaghetti, meat, cheese and so on, I think it must be a larger muffin cup then the standard size. If you are using the jumbo muffin tin, can I adapt the recipe to fit the muffin tins I own by either cutting the recipe in half or making 24 small one, and baking them for less time? (any idea how long that would be?)

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  11. Dewlanna Solo, yes, these are made in the bigger muffin tins. You could make them in the smaller muffin tins; it may be a little bit more difficult to get all the ingredients nicely put together in the smaller ones, but very doable even so. You might want to cut the baking time down 5- 10 minutes; just check them at about 20 minutes, if the the cheese has melted nicely, and is beginning to brown a little, they will be good. Adjust the time as you go. Give it a try, I am sure you will enjoy it.

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  12. I made these for dinner.they were easy to make and also delicious.will be making them again soon.

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  13. Mary, I'm so glad you tried them and liked them. They are definitely one of our favorites. Thanks for commenting; I appreciate hearing from you.

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  14. These look yummy! Is the cottage cheese / ricotta cheese necessary to hold the "crust" together, or can I leave it out to save calories? Thanks!

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  15. Michelle,
    You don't have to use the Cottage Cheese to hold the crust together, the egg and parmesan in the crust will hold it together nicely; although the Cottage cheese is a creamy, delicious element that really does make this dish extra special, I do always think a person should experiment and see what works for them, so give it a try and see how it does. Thanks for the comment.

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  16. I tried to pin this to Pinterest, by I got a message that the image photo wasn't big enough. Can you fix this please? Thanks!

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  17. Wondering if you've tried freezing these? They look delicious and I'm trying to find easy recipes that I can make ahead of time. Thanks!

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    1. Yes, Jennifer, they freeze up fine. You might try cutting down on the cooking time before you freeze them, by about 10 - 15 minutes, so that they are not cooked excessively when you re-heat, or microwave them… another thought, which I haven't tried yet with the muffins, although I have tried it when making in the casserole, is to freeze before cooking; you could probably pop them out of the muffin tins once frozen and store them in a ziplock freezer bag, then pop them back into the muffin tin when ready to cook. To cook; I would let them sit out for 30-60 minutes, then bake as suggested. I do plan to give it a try like that… but haven't as yet, so that is only a suggestion. Thanks for stopping in.

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  18. Wow! great idea for hubby's take out lunch and eat while he drives the 10W truck.... I could pre cook the noodles and the sauce at night and bake it in the morning :)

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    1. Cutting Edge, that sounds like a great idea; that was the kind of thing I had in mind when I made the spaghetti pie like a muffin; it was handy for my hubby when he was on the go. Hope you like them; have fun making them.

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  19. how should I make these ahead of time for a potluck? i can reheat there. any suggestions? thanks

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    1. Hi Cathy, a few suggestions would be to cook them just before bringing them, place them in a covered serving dish; wrap a towel around the serving dish to keep them warm. Another idea, would be; Cook and place into a warm crockpot. Cover and serve from the crockpot. Hope it goes well for you.

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  20. I live in Australia and dreamfield noodles are not available what could I use as a substitute please.
    Dianne

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    1. Hi Diane,
      Thanks for stopping in. I don't know of another low-carb pasta, unless you tried using pre-cooked, spaghetti squash. Another thought would be to see if you can order the Dreamfields pasta on Amazon. If you find something, or try something else, let me know if if you try it and whether it turns out; I would love to know.

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  21. Could this be done using zucchini "noodles"?

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    1. Erin, I think it sounds awesome with Zucchini noodles... by all means give it a try.

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  22. I made these and they are delicious. I had a few variations. 1. We are vegetarians so I made these without meat. 2. I did not want to use cottage cheese and I did not have ricotta cheese so I just added a little more parmesan cheese on top before adding the sauce.

    The next time I make these I will definitely add ricotta cheese! My family LOVES ricotta!

    Thank you for a great recipe!

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    1. So glad you liked them Kristina. Let me know how you like it with the ricotta... I keep meaning to try it like that but haven't done it yet. Thanks for the comment.

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  23. Like this we can make the muffins using millet flour is also gives the good taste

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  24. My daughter is such a picky eater. I guess most two year old's are. I made this recipe for her and the whole family ended up enjoying them. I packed some for my lunch, my husbands lunch and my little one has a snack for this afternoon. Great job!
    I don't know how i discovered this blog but I am so excited!

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    Replies
    1. Nakisha, your comments just blessed my heart. Thanks so much and Bon Appetite!!

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  25. Awesome! I want to substitute the cottage cheese with Ricotta cheese!

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    1. you could always add some ricotta in with cottage cheese. just do half of the measurements for the cottage cheese then do other half with ricotta and mix together. I mix cottage and ricotta together when I make my lasagna

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