Leftover Spaghetti Pie Recipe
Made a batch of your favorite spaghetti and don’t want it for lunch the next day? Transform it into Leftover Spaghetti Pie! With the addition of a couple of ingredients to your leftover spaghetti then baked into a pie dish, slicing your spaghetti will liven up your leftovers and have you feeling like you are enjoying something new.
Add a side salad to round out the meal and pat yourself on the back for breathing new life into your leftovers.
With the start of a new year, I found myself making a resolution of sorts; to reduce the amount of food my household wastes. The problem that often arises in my home of two adults is that we frequently have leftovers….and my husband hates leftovers. He hates the smell he says and he tires easily of eating the same thing. While we can sometimes get away with repurposing for lunch the next day, should I serve up the same thing two nights in a row….he will opt for cereal.
And then if I opt for cereal, then make something new the next night- the leftovers often get trashed.
So I started thinking, “what if I could find a way to revitalize some of the meals into something different”? I’m usually pretty good about the transition from something like Mississippi Roast later being stuffed into a baked potato the next day so what if I did something similar with other meals. Maybe that would reduce the amount of wasted food AND keep my husband from complaining about seeing “leftovers” on the meal planner list.
Leftover Spaghetti Recipe
Liven up your leftover spaghetti by transforming it into a pie. Add a side salad to your slice to complete the meal.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti, cooked
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1cup shredded mozzarella, divided
- 1 1/2 cup pasta sauce
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. * I use a springform cake pan.
Toss spaghetti with olive oil in a large bowl. Stir in eggs and parmesan cheese. Pour spaghetti mixture into prepared pan, form into a crust by gently pressing against the bottom and sides of the baking dish.
Spoon the pasta sauce over the spaghetti. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, top with half of the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes; or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and allow the pie to cool for 10 minutes before removing the springform and cutting.
Notes
Enjoy leftovers within 3-5 days.
I’m not sure if it will work but this leftover spaghetti recipe turned Spaghetti Pie most definitely livened things up a bit. It hardly felt like it was yet another night of spaghetti. Throughout the year I’ll be adding to my “Livened Up Leftovers” category and will share here what I’m cooking up!
I’m committing to at least once a month so by December we should have 12 recipes that saved the leftovers from the trash. AMEN.
What exactly is Leftover Spaghetti Pie?
Spaghetti Pie is a casserole baked in a round baking dish to resemble pie. It gets its name from the spaghetti leftovers and with the addition of cheese, mimics a cheesy pasta bake.
- The pie “crust” is made of noodles mixed with eggs (the eggs bind the crust together so don’t let that scare you) and cheese.
- You’ll notice the recipe calls for pasta sauce but my photos have ground meat. I used a basic meat sauce, but you can certainly omit the ground meat and use just a pasta sauce and keep things meat free, if desired.
- Jazz up your pie by adding mushrooms, bell peppers or broccoli to bulk things up or hide some veggies.
What do I do with leftover Spaghetti Pie?
Leftover Spaghetti Pie can be refrigerated for about 3-5 days. Cover with plastic wrap and reheat in the microwave until hot (removing the plastic wrap, of course).
Can I freeze my leftover Spaghetti Pie?
While my purpose was revitalizing my leftovers, if you still just aren’t in the mood for spaghetti anything the following day, spaghetti pie can be frozen and enjoyed later. I would recommend using an aluminum foil disposable baking dish rather than the springform I have used.
How to bake Spaghetti Pie:
Assemble the pie as instructed in a disposable pan, but instead of popping it into the oven, cover the unbaked spaghetti pie with aluminum foil and place in the freezer. Be sure to label the pie with the date and use within 1 month.
When ready to serve, allow to thaw overnight. Remove the foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Follow the instructions in the recipe card with the final addition of more cheese.
How this recipe differs from some of the other Spaghetti Pie recipes on the internet is that it truly utilizes a small amount of leftovers therefore producing smaller portions…to prevent you from having leftovers from your leftovers.
If you have a favorite way to repurposing your leftovers, be sure to drop me a line and share.
And if you still have pasta on the brain, these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs are another twist of traditional spaghetti and meatballs and this Cajun Chicken Bowtie Pasta is pretty standard in our home. And this Sweet Pea & Pesto Pasta is a great meatless Monday recipe if that is part of your New Year’s resolutions.
