That title is a lot of deliciousness in it right there. The best (and easiest) first day twice baked spaghetti…. and it is SO. GOOD.
Twice Baked Spaghetti
This is such a perfect rainy day kind of dinner. Something warm and cheesy and baked full of flavor!
A confession… we do zucchini or spaghetti squash ‘pasta’ here. It will be 1 year (in about another week) since we stopped eating bread/pasta/refined carbs on the regular. I never thought as a vegetarian that we would be able to realistically follow a low carb diet but almost a year eating this way and we don’t know if we will ever fully go back to the way we ate before. I will do a blog post about this low carb eating journey if you are interested in hearing more about the why, the how and the result.
Since it is a rainy day here- I am craving something warm and cozy and a twice baked casserole sounds perfect. So, today I thought I would reshare this favorite way to make baked pasta recipe with you. Of course, you can absolutely enjoy every bite of pasta or substitute the pasta with something different if you choose to- it will be delicious either way!
Perfect Pasta
The best part about this dinner- is no matter if you like more sauce or less, more cheese or none, Italian seasoning or simple flavor or traditional pasta or a different type or veggie pasta– you can make this to your perfect kind and taste easily.
My husband is the main chef over here and he said twice baked spaghetti the first day was the ideal. He could cook it, mix up the sauce (rather than top with the sauce),sauté it a bit and then put the pan in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil & cheese on the top to brown just right. So, that is what he did.
I will admit, I am a terrible food blogger and I didn’t take a photo of the process. Because I honestly didn’t even think about sharing it here at the time. It was photogenic for an Instagram story when it was done but that was about the only photo I took. Even so, it was so delicious that I decided to go ahead and share. So, even without the usual bombardment of in the process photos- I thought I would share what he did for first day twice baking.
First Day Twice Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cook your pasta in water as usual. At the same time, sauté the mushrooms, garlic and onions in a pan with a bit of olive oil. In a separate sauce pan- warm up the pasta sauce. Once the sauce is warm- add the mushrooms, onions and garlic to the sauce and set aside. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and put the pasta into the sauce mixture and saut'e for about 10 minutes. Then pour it all into the casserole dish. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta and then pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese or mozzarella with a bit of Italian seasoning on top ( to your preference)Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is browned. Add pepper (and salt) to taste if preferred. Serve and Enjoy!
Delicious
It is seriously DELICIOUS folks. The pasta cooked in with the sauce perfectly and as you can see the cheese melted beyond. As I mentioned, we do a zucchini noodle vs a traditional pasta noodle & we add fresh pepper to ours since we like a bit more flavor and zip but you don’t have to. And you can always substitute your favorite cheese, vegan cheese or leave off all together if you prefer. And add a dot of butter on the top after it bakes for an extra oomph.
And even better- we had enough leftover for three times warmed up spaghetti the next day. My husband has been known to take whatever leftovers there are and put an egg on them for breakfast. As you can imagine- he was quite happy with these leftovers. You can find 5 more favorite delicious and easy recipes for summer HERE
Shop the Look
*affiliate links
Looks DELICIOUS but I have never found a jar tomatoe sauce worth eating. Can you share yours. Thanks and I love fcc
Gb
I hear you! I referenced the jar in the recipe since that is what most folks use. He often makes his own but I will ask what his favorite is and share. He always adds a lot of fresh veggies & fresh garlic to jar sauce as well though- so that may make a difference too.
cAN’T WIT TO MAKE THIS DISH cOURTNEY.
wHat a great idea!
Moni
what temperature do bake this on for 20 minutes
This looks delicious! Is it a whole head of garlic, or just a clove? Thanks!
My husband is a big garlic lover so pretty sure he would go for the whole head but you can adjust to your preferences.
Amazing! I’m Italian AND MOVED AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL PASTA YEARS AGO TO FOCUS ON HEALTH. gLAD TO HAVE ANOTHE RECIPE. btw mIRACLE NOODLES.
With zucchini noodles, I’m guessing you don’t cook them before adding them to the sauce? How do they hold up after sauteing and baking? Thank you!
I know that he usually will sauté them a bit when we are eating regular zucchini noodles topped with sauce- the only thing that I would be thinking could affect it would be the extra water content as the zucchini cooks in a all together dish- but a little extra water won’t ruin it. I will ask what his preferred method is but I would guess that he sautés a bit and then adds cooked sauce and tops with cheese and bakes until the cheese is browned.
Thank you!
Yes, I’d love for you to write a blog on the low-carb diet you’ve been eating for the past year! Please include how you get enough protein, vitamins and minerals. Do you supplement the diet or just eat more food?
Love the recipe. Want to try it soon. I didn’t see an oven temperature for the 20-minute bake time.