MOPS Recipe, Day 3...String Pie

Well, this week turned out to be all about birthdays on the blog so I didn't really have a chance until now to post any new recipes, like I had originally hoped I would. Today I thought I'd finally get back on track and share a  new one I tried out last week while I was on a roll in new recipe land!  This week I've been lazy about taking pictures (well, except for the birthday girl) and trying out new recipes too.  Seriously...our weekly staples here are tacos and spaghetti, and we've already covered those bases this week!  I'm such a boring cook and that's why I'm really excited about continuing to try out the new recipes that my girlfriends at MOPS shared a couple of weeks back.

So...speaking of spaghetti.  I know we're not the only house who loves eating spaghetti.  It's fast and easy to make and it involves pasta, something my kids are down to eat any day of the week!  If you eat as much spaghetti as we do, you'd totally agree that it gets really boring after a while and that's why I really like this new recipe my MOPS friend Christina shared.  It's a spin on spaghetti without being it's traditional spaghetti self.  Think of it as spaghetti meets casserole.  I know that sounds kinda weird but it was actually really good!

String Pie 

Ingredients:

*1 pound ground beef (you could totally use turkey instead)

*1/2 cup chopped onion

*1/4 cup chopped green pepper ( I omitted this because my kids aren't big fans of peppers)

*1 jar (15 1/2 ounces) spaghetti sauce

*8 ounces spaghetti cooked and drained ( I just used a handful, and same amount I'd usually use for making regular spaghetti.

*1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*2 eggs, beaten

*2 teaspoons butter ( I melted mine)

*1 cup cottage cheese

*1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese ( I had to cheat and use what we had on hand...colby jack...and it still turned out yummy!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook beef, onion and green pepper in large skillet over medium-high heat until meat is browned.  Drain fat.  Stir in spaghetti sauce. Combine spaghetti, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and butter in large bowl; mix well.  

Place in bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan. Spread cottage cheese over top; cover with sauce mixture.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake until mixture is thoroughly heated and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.

I served our String Pie with 

a green salad and that's it. Super easy!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and if you end up making it, be sure to let me know what you think!

P.S.  I know Christina will probably not read this but I still wanted to say thanks for passing along the recipe!