Triple Cheese Baked Spaghetti

A bloggy friend of mine and I were discussing pasta- and how much we love it. Honestly, you really can't mess up too badly when you make it; practically everyone likes it and you can do so much with it.

I made this the other night- it added another recipe to my growing meatless options and, hey, it's pasta. In fact, it's almost a spaghetti pie...

This is a recipe from the American Dairy Association. Mmmm... dairy...

6 ounces dry spaghetti pasta
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely grated Romano cheese
2 cups (16 ounce jar) prepared spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon dry basil
2 teaspoons dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounce part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
(note: this is a really easy recipe to tweak. I added garlic -of course- and if you really wanted to you could add some meat. Or use different pasta. Really just an easy & fun recipe.)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain completely. Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta and Romano cheeses, 1 cup spaghetti sauce, basil, oregano, and pepper. Set aside remaining 1 cup spaghetti sauce.

Mix cooked pasta with cheese mixture, stirring until pasta is distributed. Place in a casserole dish coated with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Top pasta and cheese mixture with shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover with lid or foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove cover; continue baking until cheese bubbles.

Remove from oven and let stand for three minutes.

Cut into four large or six smaller servings. Top each portion with remaining spaghetti sauce before serving.