My favorite meal as a child was Spaghetti. And I did not discriminate when it came to meat sauce or meatballs as long as it included red sauce that would stain my face I was ready to partake.
Spaghetti has always been my ultimate “comfort food”.
(Spaghetti Dinner with my Granddad at age nine months.)
For those of my readers who have their family’s secret red sauce recipe for traditional Spaghetti & Meatballs this post might be a hard one to swallow. Just stick with me because as a girl who has loved Spaghetti since birth I kind of feel like I’ve earned the “expert” taster status when it comes to Spaghetti.
This baked Spaghetti dish that is filled with creamy goodness is called Million Dollar Spaghetti and it is worth every penny. In fact, it would likely be worth a lot more if you omit my suggested cans of Spaghetti Sauce and replace them with that secret family red sauce recipe!
Ingredients:
1 lb of Ground Turkey (or Ground Beef
or 2 cups Chopped Zucchini for a Vegetarian dish)
1 Box of Spaghetti Noodles (I use Whole Grain)
2 Cans of Spaghetti Sauce (24oz each)
1 Package of Cream Cheese (8oz)
1/4 Cup of Sour Cream
1 Cup of Cottage Cheese
1 Teaspoon of Ground Garlic
1 Stick of Butter or Margarine (sliced into 8-10 pieces)
1 Cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup of Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350*.
Start browning your meat and boiling your noodles and while the magic happens on the stove top begin mixing your creamy goodness.
Mix the Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, and Ground Garlic with a Mixer until it is well blended.
I do not have a Kitchen-Aid mixer however my “Toddler-Aid” works just as well and is way 
cuter than those Kitchen-Aid mixers.
Once the meat has browned add the two cans of Spaghetti Sauce to the pan and let simmer while you drain the noodles – you do not want your noodles to cook more than 8 minutes on the stove; they will continue to cook in the oven.
After you drain your noodles, spray a 9×12 baking pan with Cooking Spray. Take half of the slices of butter/margarine and put them in the bottom of your pan. Then layer half of your Spaghetti noodles on top of the butter pieces.
Spread your creamy goodness on top of that layer of Spaghetti noodles. Add the other half of noodles, the rest of the butter/margarine slices, then pour the red sauce with meat on top!
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes remove the pan from the oven and layer the Cheddar and Parmesan Cheeses on top, return the dish to the oven to continue to bake 15 more minutes.
Let your dish sit for ten minutes before serving.
Million Dollar Spaghetti makes a great freezer meal and tastes just as good as leftovers. The recipe above can also be split and made into two 9×9 pans if you have a smaller family or one that does not favor leftovers.
