Spaghetti Pie with Italian Sausage and Spicy Sauce
Ingredients
1lbspaghetti noodlescooked and cooled
2tablespoonsolive oil
1poundItalian sausage
1cuponionchopped
2clovesgarlicminced
1/2teaspoondried crushed red pepper flakes
1 28-ouncecan crushed tomatoes
1/2cuppitted black olivescoarsely chopped
1/2teaspoonsaltmore to taste if needed
3large eggsbeaten
1cupof ricotta cheese
1cupmozzarella cheeseshredded
¼cupparmesan cheeseshredded
Cooking sprayolive oil
9x 3 inch spring form or cake pan
Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to grease pan and set aside.
If your spaghetti noodles are not cooked, cook them now according to package directions. When they are done cooking, strain them in a colander and rinse in cold water. You want to use cooled spaghetti noodles for this recipe.
Add olive oil to a large pan on medium heat. Add the sausage to the pan the cook until almost done. Most of the pink should be gone.
Add the onions to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Cook until the onions have softened, and the sausage is completely done then add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
Add to the pan, the crushed tomatoes, black olives and salt to the pan. Mix everything together. Once the meat sauce starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and let the meat sauce simmer for 15 minutes.
Take the meat sauce off the heat. In a large bowl add the spaghetti noodles and about 2/3 of the meat sauce. You’ll want to reserve about a 1/3 of the meat sauce for topping the pie.
Beat 3 large eggs and add them to the meat sauce/noodle mixture. Stir very well until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the meat sauce/noodle mixture to the prepared spring form pan. Top with dollops of ricotta cheese. Over the top of the ricotta, add the remaining meat sauce. Then sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan over the top.
Place the pan in the preheat oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes. The edges of the cheese should be brown but not burnt. Take out of the oven when done. Let the pie settle for 5-10 minutes before removing from the spring form pan. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Hint: If you have to cook the spaghetti, you can use the same pan to cook the sauce for less clean up. 😊