Cheesy Spaghetti Casserole

Comfort food? Yes indeed it is. And it works so well as a nice weekday meal.

You can shorten your time on this one by using some commercial spaghetti sauce of your choosing or spend a bit more time, and make your own sauce to add to this.

In either case, it will be a favorite of kids and others who like spaghetti in all it's permutations.

So give it a go.



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic 
• 2 1/2 C of spaghetti sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 12oz spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente
• 8oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, brown the ground chuck with the diced onion & garlic. Drain off any grease that forms. Mix in the spaghetti sauce,  & garlic powder. Cook on low for 10 minutes.
3. Cook the spaghetti noodles until al dente. Drain off the water, & then stir in 8oz of softened cream cheese. Stir the noodles into the sauce - the heat will melt any un-mixed cream cheese.
1. Meanwhile, make the Mozzarella cheese sauce. In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in ¼ cup of all purpose flour. Cook on medium heat for about 60-90 seconds, stirring occasionally. Whisk in 2 cups of milk. Cook, whisking often, on medium heat until it’s thickened enough to lightly coat your whisk – about the thickness of heavy whipping cream. Add in 8oz of shredded Mozzarella cheese. Whisk until the cheese is completely melted & thoroughly combined.
4. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half of the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of the dish. Top with half of the cheese sauce & half of the shredded Parmesan cheese. Top the cheese with the other half of the spaghetti - and then finish up with the rest of the cheese sauce & Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

SERVES: 6

NOTES: You could jazz this up with some sauteed mushrooms or add some olives of your choice chopped. You can of course vary the cheese sauce to any type of cheese you prefer.

SOURCE: Mrs. Happy Homemaker