Million Dollar Spaghetti

This baked spaghetti recipe instantly became a favorite when I prepared it for the first time back in January. I made this during my girls’ weekend in Kiawah. It’s fancy enough for company, but easy enough for quick weeknight dinners, especially now that I started using the “delay start” feature on my oven.

Million Dollar Spaghetti is the creation of Salt & Lavender, which isn’t surprising. Her pasta recipes are delicious. I’ll link here and post below: https://www.saltandlavender.com/million-dollar-spaghetti/

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 pound uncooked spaghetti
1 pound Italian sausage see note
1/2 medium onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
2 (24 ounce) jars marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

Cheese layer:

8 ounces cream cheese (1 block Philly) softened
8 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
In a medium bowl, add the cheese layer ingredients and stir them together until you’ve got a nice, smooth mixture. Set aside.
Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pasta and cook it 2 minutes less than package directions suggest. Once it’s done, drain it and add it back to the same pot it was cooked in.
Meanwhile, add the sausage meat to a skillet, along with the onion. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as you go along, for about 10 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
To the skillet, stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about a minute. Spoon out excess fat from the pan.
Add the skillet mixture to the pot that has the pasta in it, and then pour in the marinara sauce. Toss until everything is coated (this is easiest to do with tongs or two large spoons).
Add half the pasta/sauce mixture to a 9×13 baking dish, then spread it in an even layer.
Spread the cheese layer evenly over the pasta/sauce layer. This step can get a little messy. It doesn’t have to be done perfectly.
Add the remaining pasta/sauce mixture and spread it out evenly, then top the casserole with the mozzarella cheese.
Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and broil for a few minutes (watch it carefully) until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
Let the casserole sit for 5-10 minutes, then use a spatula to cut it into individual portions. Season with salt & pepper if needed.