Finding something new to make for dinner that everyone will like lingers constantly in the recesses of my mind. I aim to please, most of the time. When I saw this video play on the Today Show, I was certain this would be a winner; after all, we’ve enjoyed Adam Richman since his Man Vs. Food days and we all like spaghetti.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. spaghetti, cooked, reserving 3/4 cup cooking water reserved
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 small cans of tomato paste, divided
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheese blend of Parmesan, Asiago, & Romano
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded, reserving 1/2 cup
• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• salt, to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a springform pan or 10 inch pie plate with non-stick spray; set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic. Add the ground beef and one can of the tomato paste. Add half of the reserved pasta water and stir well. Season with salt, to taste. Consistency should be like a thick Bolognese sauce. Add more cooking water as needed.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, add the spaghetti noodles, cheese blend, one cup of the mozzarella cheese, and one can of tomato paste. Stir well.

Starting and ending with the meat sauce, create layers of meat sauce, noodles, meat sauce, noodles etc., pressing down as necessary. Top with final layer of meat sauce and scatter the remaining mozzarella cheese on the top.

Bake the pie for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

The original recipe calls for 12 oz. of spaghetti noodles, 1 pound of ground beef/ turkey, and 3 eggs. Since we normally make spaghetti with 2 lbs. of meat, I upped the pasta and eggs. I baked in a springform pan to accommodate the extra. I forgot to place it on a baking sheet until the sauce drizzled out onto the bottom of the pan, burning it to a nice crisp resulting in me cleaning the oven the following day.

The results: Chris and I liked it. Bri said she liked it, but preferred meatballs. Leah, had some, but was simply not interested. We also barely made a dent in it, it was so dense and filling, and while we are usually good about leftovers, there was just too much so once again, the guys at Chris’s work reaped the benefits. Thank God for hungry guys to eat it all up. If/ when I make it again, I’ll stick with the original recipe of noodles, meat, and eggs. I think that a no meat version would be equally tasty, but I know there’s no way Chris would be game for that.

Adapted from: Today Food