Spaghetti al Forno

Spaghetti al forno is a delicious pasta and cheese frittata. Breadcrumbs, pasta, eggs, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and prosciutto are layered together and then baked. It's hearty, cheesy and so good with a side of marinara sauce. I adapted this recipe from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe for capellini al forno. This would make three to four servings because I cut some of the ingredients down so that my husband and I wouldn't have tons of leftovers. If you want to make more, there would be plenty of room in the springform pan for an extra layer if you follow this recipe, so you can increase the amount of pasta, prosciutto and mozzarella if you need to.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 lb (225g) of spaghetti 
• 2 tablespoons of butter, plus butter for greasing pan and for browning 
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of Italian herb mix (or herbs of choice)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 200g of prosciutto, torn or roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of marinara sauce

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until it is al dente (tender but still chewy). Drain the pasta and put it into a large bowl. Let it cool somewhat so that when you add the eggs, the eggs do not cook. Add the Parmesan cheese, two tablespoons of butter, herbs, salt and pepper and beaten eggs to the bowl and mix well.

Grease the springform pan with some butter. Layer the breadcrumbs in the bottom of the pan. I forgot about the breadcrumbs when I made this and ended up having to toast some bread and grate it all. It worked, but it definitely took longer than it could have if I had been prepared!

Layer half of the spaghetti mixture in the pan on top of the breadcrumb layer, followed by a layer of half of the prosciutto. Spread half of the mozzarella cheese on top. Gently press the contents flat. Repeat with the remaining spaghetti mixture, prosciutto, and mozzarella cheese. Press the contents flat again. Dot the top of the mozzarella layer with some butter to help it brown nicely.

Bake the frittata at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Heat the marinara sauce in the meantime and serve with the frittata. Yum!

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I shared this on From Scratch Friday on Marriage from Scratch!