Mel's Kitchen Cafe's Skillet Baked Spaghetti (or Dutch Oven)

So, recently I had to make a dessert where I needed only 2 Tbl. of cream cheese. I live in a small town and our local grocery store stopped selling the smaller 4 oz. bricks of cream cheese, so I had to buy a whole 8 oz. brick for just 2 little Tbl. of cream cheese. The remaining cheese has just been sitting in my fridge waiting for a recipe to come along to use it up. So, this week when I saw Mel's Kitchen Cafe's recipe for spaghetti that called for some cream cheese, I knew we had to try this out.

In the original recipe, Mel says to use a large cast iron skillet to prepare this dish. I don't personally own a cast iron skillet (but I have one on my Amazon Wish List, hint, hint...), but I do own a 6 quart cast iron porcelain enamel Dutch oven. Here is a picture like the one I have, so we aren't talking Dutch oven like for camping and charcoal:

If you are in the market, I think I got mine at Shopko but they have these on Amazon: Dutch Oven

It's a heavy beast, but super nice!

My husband and I agree that we both loved this recipe. I think using the Dutch Oven was a stroke of genius because several times in Mel's recipe she comments about how over-full the skillet can get and how hard it is to stir everything... but in my large 6 quart Dutch oven, there was plenty of space to stirring and it was still a one-pot meal because it can go in the oven for the final broil at the end.

Here is the recipe:

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2014/03/skillet-baked-spaghetti.html

Skillet Baked Spaghetti

YIELD: SERVES 6

The easiest way to do this, says ATK, is to place the spaghetti in a gallon-size ziploc bag so the spaghetti is laying inside the bottom of the bag. Roll the bag up into a tight roll around the pasta and then using the edge of the counter, press into the rolled log of dry noodles, breaking them in 2-inch intervals. Unroll the bag and you'll have lots of 2-inch segments of dried spaghetti in the bottom of the bag. Trust me, it's a lot less messy and faster than doing it strand by strand. Also, don't even think about making this in a skillet smaller than 12-inches (if you have one bigger/deeper, use it) because you'll have major overflow issues.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 12 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces (see note)
• 3 cans (15-ounces each) crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces light cream cheese, softened and cubed
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet (see note above) that is oven-safe, cook the ground beef or turkey with the garlic and red pepper flakes over medium to medium-high heat, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Drain any excess grease, if needed.
2. Stir in the oregano, basil, thyme, spaghetti, crushed tomatoes, water, salt and pepper. The skillet will be very full! You are going to want to curse my name. It's ok. I still love you. If you stir carefully, you'll be fine. Just kind of lift the pasta up and over to get everything well combined.
3. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, stirring every once in a while to prevent sticking and break up the noodles, for 12-14 minutes, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. It's ok if it still looks quite liquidy as it will continue to thicken while it broils and rests. While the pasta cooks, preheat the broiler.
4. Stir in the cubed cream cheese until it has melted and combined with the pasta. Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the top and broil until golden and bubbly, 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove the skillet from the oven and let it sit for 5 or so minutes before serving.

Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in America’s Test Kitchen Best of 2009 (changed all the ingredient amounts to better feed our family as well as changing the liquid ingredients, some of the spices, cheese, etc.)

Marsha's Notes:
I used more cream cheese than in this recipe because I was trying to use up that partial 8 oz. brick mentioned above, and it still turned out great! It just made the spaghetti creamier, cheesier, and slightly more pale than if I had used less cream cheese. I also just broke my spaghetti up into about 3-4 inch pieces, so I don't think you need to break it up too small... it did make it nice for eating though, without all those super long noodles hanging out all over the place when you put it in your mouth. 

I would also think that you could substitute your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce for the canned tomatoes and spices if you used the same proportions. Just be sure to add the extra water because you are cooking the noodles in the sauce. 

Scott and I also commented on how this would also be extra tasty if you used 1/2 hamburger and 1/2 Italian bulk sausage, just like in our stuff shells recipe: Stuffed Shells. Then you could use 1/2 a pound of each in both of these recipes and cut the shells down by half. The shells recipe is a doubled recipe anyway.

I tired this recipe once with rotini, but spaghetti was better.