Lazy Sunday Spaghetti

Halloween weekend is always a crazy one in NYC and this year was no disappointment. We had guests in from out of town and a few more parties than we could possibly attend. So once Sunday afternoon rolled around we were all tired and craving some comfort food. 
Since we were already weary from the weekend I decided to make the lazy version of baked spaghetti. There are only a few steps and it is oh so good! After a quick trip to the store we were ready to get cooking! I also like making this as you can do it all ahead of time and then it has to cook for quite a while so its allows for a good movie break after all of the prep work! 
I bought a good mixture of pre-made pasta sauces. I used about 3 1/2 jars. I like to mix the traditional (Prego is always good) with the more exciting (Mario Batali's roasted garlic and onion). I combined all of the sauces in a large pot and put in on the stove on low. I added garlic salt, oregano, pepper, red pepper flakes, and some balsamic vinegar. I let this all stew for about an hour and a half before it goes into the casserole dish.

Once the sauce is on I prep and cook the meat that I want to add to the sauce. Since we were going for comfort with this meal we decided to just go with some ground beef(but you could substitute just about any type of meat). I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. I also put a hearty scoop of minced garlic and some diced sweet onion on the stove in some olive oil to cook down. Once the onions were soft I added the ground beef and cooked it through.

Once the meat was cooked I added all of the contents of the sautee pan to the tomato sauce. The  sautee pan will have some liquid in it, but this will add great flavour to the sauce and will not thin it out. 
So once the meat is in the sauce I like to let it all cook for about an hour just so the flavour can fully develop. 
I also make a quick ricotta cheese mixture. A container of whole milk ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream and about a half bag of shredded mozzarella. I also ad some pepper and thoroughly combine all ingredients.

So once the sauce is ready I boil the noodles for about 6 minutes, you want them to be truly al-dente as they will continue to cook in the oven. I put a thin layer of sauce(about two ladles) and about 1/3 of the cheese in the bottom of the casserole dish. You can dollop the cheese and it will spread as it bakes. Finally I add the noodles and put the majority if cheese on top of them, and then top with sauce. 

I covered the whole dish with foil and cooked it on 325 for about an hour. Once the edges begin to bubble I pulled the casserole out and removed the foil. Last night I used the rest of the mozzarella cheese I had as a topper on the casserole. I put it back in the oven for about 15 minutes. This was the finished product. 

This was such a yummy dinner and allowed for a lot of left overs! We decided to go super simple and made a quick caesar salad and garlic cheese toasts. Everyone went back for seconds and we will be enjoying the spaghetti for at least one more night this week! 

So even after a long weekend when everyone is tired- it only takes a little bit of effort to get something "home-made" on the table! It was the perfect meal to get us ready for the coming week! This can also be made a head of time and put in the fridge until you are ready to cook it! Over all a definite fan favourite in our apartment!