Spaghetti Casserole

This recipe is from the Southern Living Slow-Cooker cookbook and was a huge hit with the kiddos! They love spaghetti and I loved the extra flavor of the Parmesan white sauce...not to mention the fact that I was able to prepare it earlier in the afternoon, leave the house and come home to dinner all ready. Addie and I had leftovers for lunch yesterday and it was still delish :-)!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
1 (26 oz) jar tomato and basil pasta sauce (I used leftover Basic Marinara)
1/4 c butter
1/4 c all purpose flour (I used cornstarch)
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk (I used 2%)
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 t pepper
8 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces (I used 12 oz gluten-free noodles)
3 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
-Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain and return to skillet.
-Stir pasta sauce into beef mixture.
-Melt butter in a saucepan over med-low heat; whisk in flour/cornstarch until smooth. Cook 1 min, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over med heat, whisking constantly, 8 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. -Remove from heat, and stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.
-Spoon 1/3 of meat mixture into a lightly greased slow cooker. Spread 1/2 of broken noodles over meat mixture; pour 1/2 of white sauce over noodles, and sprinkle with 1 c cheddar cheese.
-Repeat layers once (1/3 meat, rest of noodles, rest of white sauce, 1 c cheese). Spread remaining meat mixture over cheese. Top with remaining 1 c cheddar cheese.
-Cover and cook on LOW 4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
(mine got a little burnt around the edges...I wasn't home keeping an eye on it...so I would say 3-4 hours depending on the cooker and when the noodles are done cooking)

2 comments:

Cheryl Joy said...

12 cups! That is A LOT of Parmesan!!

Marci said...

Haha! Thank you for catching my typo Cheryl :-)! 1/2 cups sounds much better!!!