Spaghetti Pie

Skip to Recipe|Print Recipe

Cheese and pasta is all I need to be happy (well and wine too). It’s amazing how comfort food really is good for your soul. You could be having the worst day, and a pile of spaghetti makes everything okay. Let me tell you about one of the top ten worst shifts of my life…

It seemed like a normal Saturday night, but in a restaurant things can get bad (really bad) in a matter of seconds. The reason serving s one of the most stressful job is that you have no control over anything. The amount of people who walk through that front door is unknown each shift. Whether or not cooks or other servers show up to work is unknown. If the dishwasher calls out, we are pretty much screwed.

The only control a server has is deciding whether or not they can make it through the shift. It’s pretty common for servers to walk out in the middle of a stressful shift. I have almost done it myself from feeling so overwhelmed. Here is what happened that dreadful Saturday…

We were slammed. I mean packed. I work in the bar area, which means I could possibly have up to 8-9 tables at once. Also, it’s first come first serve. If a table finishes, people waiting at the door come and hover over the dirty table until we clean it. It gets crazy.

In the middle of all this chaos I saw some of my regular ladies. Her and her husband would come in every Saturday. Her husband’s health hadn’t been the best. She told me he had passed away.

Surprised by how much this news affected me,  I started tearing up and consoling her. I immediately fell behind with my other tables, and the bartender was “in the weeds” as well. He ran out of glass mugs, which get washed in the back by the dishwasher. I needed drinks, so I ran to get the mugs.

They were stacked about eight racks high on a roller (which is probably about 6 feet tall). I rolled them to the bar, not realizing how top heavy they would be. It was like time froze. The tower of mugs teetered out of my hands, and the whole thing crashed to the floor in the middle of the bar. I broke close to every mug. I looked at the bartender and ran to the bathroom  and completely broke down.

My saint of a manager was cleaning up the mess when I finally composed myself and came back to help. Then I went to check on my tables and one said to me, “Are we EVER going to get our drinks!?” It was all I could do but say, “Did you not just witness or hear the tower of mugs breaking in the middle of the bar? They will be out in a minute.” Needless to say I didn’t get tipped.

That is just one bad night. But I have learned you have to shake it off. Just get through that moment. There is light on the other side…Or spaghetti pie and wine!


Print

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie is a whimsical take on the classic spaghetti and meat sauce we all grew up with. It’s similar to a baked ziti, but uses spaghetti noodles instead. I love this cheesy comfort food dinner recipe.

• Author: The Hungry Waitress
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti noodles, prepared according to the package
• 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1 Tablespoon garlic
• 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Equipment

• 1 Spring Form Pan
• 1 large Skillet
• 1 large pot (to cook the pasta)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 1 package a spaghetti noodle according to the package. Stir 1/2 of the jar of marinara into the noodles. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Place 1 lb of ground beef or turkey into the hot skillet and break it apart. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper to the meat crumbles. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes or until the meat has browned completely. Stir in the rest of the marinara (1/2 a jar).
3. Prepare the spring form pan by spraying it with some oil. Place half of the spaghetti noodles in the bottom of the pan. Then add half of the meat mixture. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the cheese. Repeat by piling the rest of the noodles on top of the cheese. Then add the rest of the meat. Top with the rest of the cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the spaghetti pie cool a little before take the spring form pan apart to serve.
5. Spaghetti Pie is a whimsical take on the classic spaghetti and meat sauce we all grew up with. It’s similar to a baked ziti, but uses spaghetti noodles instead. I love this cheesy comfort food dinner recipe.