Due to the amount of cheese in this recipe, it is not a low-sodium recipe. Thus, if you select this dish, you should be careful of your portion size and make sure to select very low sodium vegetables for the other dishes to be served with your meal.
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz thin spaghetti, cooked al dente without salt, and drained and rinsed in cold water.
- 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
- ¼ lb mushrooms, chopped
- 1 ½ cup onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 cups no-salt added tomato sauce
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 Tbsp no-salt Italian seasoning
- 2 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ cup ricotta cheese (or low-fat cottage cheese)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Heat a large heavy sauce pan to medium. If you are using very lean ground beef, add 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil. Add crumbled ground beef, onions, and mushrooms. Cook until the beef is lightly browned and onions are soft.
- Add minced garlic and red chili pepper, tomato sauce, 1 ½ cups of water, Italian seasoning and parsley to the pan. Add the beef back to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook on lowest simmer setting for 10-15 minutes.
- Toss the cooled pasta with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese. Then add the beaten egg.
- Rub the inside of a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish with a small amount of olive oil.
- Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce over the bottom of the dish. Place half the pasta in an even layer in the casserole dish. Then cover with half of the remaining sauce.
- Add the ricotta cheese in small dots on top of the sauce and sprinkle the mozzarella over the ricotta layer.
- Layer again with the remaining pasta, the remaining sauce, and the remaining mozzarella.
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
This is not a low-sodium dish. Note that sodium percentages depend on which daily reference you use. The estimated 232 mg of sodium per serving implies that one serving of this recipe provides:
– 10% of the U.S. FDA daily reference value for sodium for a 2,000-calorie diet that includes 2,400 mg sodium, or
– 15% of the American Heart Association recommendation of 1,500 mg sodium per day, or
– 23% of the Ménière’s diet recommendation of 1,000 mg sodium per day.
(As is the case with all of the recipes on this web site, the nutrition information provided in this recipe is only an estimate based on nutrition information provided on the packaging of each of the ingredients we used in this recipe and/or on a variety of sources on the web. This information should be regarded as an opinion only, with no guarantees that it is accurate. Obviously, the nutritional information will vary depending on the ingredients and quantities that you use.)
