Two for Tuesday: Spaghetti Pizza

This is a great answer to the "what's for dinner?" question.

Spaghetti Pizza (or Pizza Spaghetti, if you prefer!)

This was born out of the realization that I had little on hand to make a decent dinner with, not a lot of time, and I didn't want to fall back on my boring old staple of plain spaghetti. Thus the last minute birth of Spaghetti Pizza!

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti noodles ( a little less than a pound actually)
• 28 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• any pizza toppings you might have on hand (pepperoni, diced ham, chopped peppers, etc)

 Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2. Pour a tablespoon or two of oil onto of a large pot of water. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add spaghetti noodles.
3. While noodles are boiling, grease a 9x13 or so casserole pan. Also, heat spaghetti sauce in a separate pan. Complete a scavenger hunt through your fridge and pantry for "pizza toppings".
4. When noodles are cooked (but not mushy), drain water COMPLETELY. Trust me on this one. Put a lid on the colander and shake all the water out. 
5. Spread noodles in the greased casserole dish. The entire pound probably won't fit. (Remember, you need to leave room for sauce and toppings.) Put the extra noodles in a container for lunch leftovers or something.
6. Spread warm spaghetti sauce over the noodles. 
7. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top until sauce is covered. 
8. Top with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Place toppings on half or on sections if you have certain family members who don't care for a particular topping.
9. Pop it in the oven for just long enough to melt and slightly brown the cheese. (Just like a 'real' pizza.)
10. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then cut it with a pizza slicer and use a spatula to serve out the pieces. (They won't maintain their structural integrity, but that's ok.)

We had this last night for dinner, and my family loved it! It might just go on our regular menu rotation. 

 Meanwhile, I just finished baking a batch of pineapple zucchini muffins. My children are very skeptical about such a combination. A conversation with a certain young lady went like this:

Sweetling: What kind of muffins are you making?
Me: Pineapple zucchini muffins.
Sweetling: Wait, seriously?
Me: Yes, they will be delicious.
Sweetling: Of course. And you're not crazy at all, are you?

I have just laid down the "you have to ate least try these" law with both my children. It's good to be the Mom, baby.