Hope you all had a great week – Happy Friday! Since having a baby, gone are the days of going out Friday night for cocktails and dinner. I love those E-Cards that say: ‘TGIF! Oh wait, I am a mom.’. So true! However, in our house we tie cocktail hour into making dinner and try to have fun with it every night. Tonight’s special was Via Italia style. One of my all time favourite meals is spaghetti but when I was searching Pinterest to spice up a regular meal, I came across all sorts of variations to  your run-of-the-mill noodles and sauce. Ladies and gents, I give you Baked Spaghetti Pie! This one is a winner and I suggest you try it at home as soon as you can.

After looking at many recipes, I decided there is really no way that you can fail at this dish, and no reason you need to limit your ingredients. Luckily I had been to the Farmer’s Market yesterday and happened to have everything I needed. I suggest sticking to your favourites when it comes to sauce, spices, condiments and oil. Try to opt for fresh ingredients when possible like green peppers, garlic and red onion. Oh and don’t forget the steroid sized green onions!

Steps To Pie Awesomeness: (Not sure why exactly it is referred to as a pie but that is okay!)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Boil noodles as you usually would. Spaghetti noodles are perfect however I used fettuccine and really any pasta noodle would be ideal.
Brown your beef in a frying pan with oil, adding your chosen vegetables and spices once the beef is cooked. I added diced green peppers, green onions and red onion, garlic flakes, chilies, salt and pepper. In a separate dish I mixed together my pasta sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Throw that into the beef and veggie mix as well. In a casserole dish, pour a bit of olive oil and layer your noodles. Grate cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Pour your beef and veg mix evenly over it and then add more cheese. If you eat in this house, you cannot hide from cheese!
Bake in the oven for twenty minutes and the top of your ‘pie’ is bubbly and golden. Put on some sweatpants and serve with garlic bread…. and a bottle of red wine if you feel so inclined. Bon appetite my friends!