I made this recipe last night for my family who is visiting. I made two changes, which I think were crucial to the success of this dish. I substituted ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese, and I used TWO 26 oz containers of sauce, both the garlic and herb variety. The only other thing that I did differently was to spread just a little sauce on the bottom of the dishes instead of greasing them, which worked just as well. I can't imagine making this without doubling the sauce... I just don't think it would be wet enough. Even with the extra sauce, the casserole still stuck together well enough to serve with a spatula. I honestly believe that this would have served more like 12 people, because there were six of us and we have more than half left over after some of us had seconds! This makes a very large batch, which is great because I don't have to cook tonight!
LOVE this recipe. I substitute ricotta for the cottage cheese, though (I think it makes the casserole "stick" together better). I also have added additional veggies and herbs, and it is fantastic. My little ones literally eat this recipe up!
Wow this is good. Wonderful comfort food, soooo tasty. My package of spaghetti was 12 oz instead of 16 oz but that was more than enough. I used more sauce than what is called for to get 'full coverage' of the spaghetti--- probably an extra two cups. I've made this entirely without the meat, for my vegetarian husband, and it's still amazing! He loves it. For those of you who thought the flavor was bland, that is probably because of the sauce you're using. The sauce is really the only seasoning you're using besides the seasoned salt, so use a good one that you really like. I used one with roasted peppers and garlic flavor. Baked it exactly as directed, and it wasn't dry at all. Just exactly right. It is also cheap to make since it makes a lot of food, about eight filling portions, and you can refrigerate and microwave it up. Thanks for this recipe!
Hubby loved this dish. Well, of course I tweaked it to his liking. Used whole grain spaghetti, substituted fresh baby spinach for the onion and added fresh garlic to the meat mixture. I also subbed non fat sour cream for the cottage cheese. mixed all with pasta and baked at 350 for 15 min. Placed pepper jack on top and melted. Sounds like a lot of changes but it wasn't really. I'm sure this will be a regular dish around here. Thanks so much.
My family really liked this recipe. I added spicey ground sausage for a little extra flavor. (1/2 Pd. ground beef, 1/2 pd. ground sausage). I made it the night before so I could just pop it in the oven the next day.
This was a very thick and cheesy baked spaghetti, the best I've ever had. I did use Ricotta instead of cottage cheese and it was fine. Feeds about 10 b/c it's so thick.
I skipped to Cottage cheese, because i just didn't have any whihc might have been the reason why it was on the dry side, but next time i will use less than a whole box of spaghetti and may be even a thinner kind of pasta and bake it for only 10 minutes uncovered. Also the recipe suggests 1/2 Teaspoon of Seasonned salt, but I suggest a tablespoon, I have to admit I do like my salt. Other than that it was great, EASY, and now i don't have to worry about tomorrow's dinner.
This was good, but in all honesty, to me, it really didn't taste any different than plain old spaghetti. However, it is a great, different way to eat it; the casserole holds together so you can cut through it with a fork rather than twisting the pasta around with a spoon and a fork.
