A quick and easy dinner in a cast iron skillet
A delicious, easy, and gluten-free spaghetti pie the whole family will love
What is it about cooking in a cast iron skillet that makes everything just look GORGEOUS?!
Maybe I’m an old soul, but I think it looks so beautiful to serve a meal in a cast iron skillet. Or dessert. Oh, I love desserts in a cast iron skillet! Oooooo…blog postfor another day…focus…ok.
Are you focused again?
I’m not.
Anyway, one of my sweetest friends bought me two cast iron skillets for my birthday last year, and they’re my favorite. Absolute favorite. I use them daily and they take a beating well. I used to be scared of cleaning them and everything but they’re really not overwhelming to maintain. at. all.
I’ve been experimenting with baking in them to make one less dish {or seven}, thus making my life a whole heck of a lot easier. This spaghetti pie was a total success for us.
Spaghetti pie is basically spaghetti that’s baked…in a pie pan.
BUT the mixture of sour cream and egg with the noodles totally kicks plain ol’ spaghetti up a notch!
It’s delicious and easy, and really only takes a little bit longer than just spaghetti, but it’s totally worth it. I love this dish. It’s extremely comforting and creamy dreamy.
I used my 10 inch cast iron skillet, and it fed our family of 5 nicely, with lunch for my man the next day.
So much win here.
Gluten-Free Spaghetti Pie {in a Cast Iron Skillet}
Notes
You can use any kind of spaghetti pasta for this. Regular pasta would work great, too!
Ricotta cheese also works in place of sour cream. Use what ya got!
Ingredients
- 8 oz gluten free spaghetti pasta (I love Trader Joe's organic brown rice spaghetti)
- 1 lb ground chicken or meat of choice (we're a low meat eating family, so I actually only used half a pound for this recipe. Feel free to do the same!)
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 cups spaghetti sauce, homemade or store bought
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or mozzarella
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 T butter for cooking
- Dried or fresh parsley for garnish optional
- 1 cup shredded colby jack or mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, break pasta in half, and cook according to directions on packaging. Gluten free noodles can be tricky to work with, but I've found if you stir only a couple times and add just a splash of oil to the water, it helps them to not clump.
- Dice onions and mince garlic if using fresh
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- In a 10 inch cast iron skillet, add a dash of oil and cook meat until browned.
- Add onions to the meat, cooking until onions are translucent and meat is cooked through. Add the garlic and let brown for 30 seconds.
- Remove meat and put aside. I like to put it on a plate and then use that plate to serve dinner on after a quick wipe. One. Less. Dish. I always try.
- Add butter to hot skillet and set aside to melt
- Drain noodles and run cold, cold water over them. Add them back into the big pot you cooked them in
- Add in the sour cream, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, oregano, and egg and stir until well combined
- Dump the noodle mixture into the cast iron skillet (or greased pie pan) and press down
- Top noodles with meat mixture
- Pour sauce on top
- Sprinkle colby jack or mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and bake for 20 minutes
- Crank oven up to broil (mine goes to 525 F), and broil for 4-6 minutes to get those beautiful brown spots on your cheese (mmm, those are my favorite! You can totally skip this part if you're not a fan, though)
- Let pie cool for 5-10 minutes before diving in. Trust me on this. It helps it set AND it protects you from burning your face off eating molten lava cheese
- NOW you can enjoy!
Do you have cast iron skillet fears? Do you LOVE yours like I do?
Happy cooking,
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