Growing up Italian you learned quickly that no food goes to waste and that leftovers can be elevated with a little creativity and quality ingredients. As a kid, my mother would make spaghetti pie using leftover spaghetti from the night before. My spaghetti and zucchini pie recipe combines everything I love about the classic plus added veggies and ground meat which make it a five food group, feel-good meal!

Spaghetti and Zucchini Pie Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini spiralized
• 1/2 lb of spaghetti
• 1 lb of ground turkey or beef
• 1 1/4 cups of tomato sauce
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 pepper
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup of ricotta
• 1/2 cup of grated parmigiana
• 1 lb of sliced fresh mozzarella or 1 cup of Italian blend shredded cheese (provolone, asiago, fontina)

Let’s Cook!

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter one glass or ceramic 10-inch pie dish.

In a medium-sized skillet, cook the ground turkey, breaking the meat into small pieces until all the meat is cooked through. As the meat cooks season with salt and pepper.

Once the cooked ground beef or turkey has cooled, add 1 cup of sauce to the meat, mix them together and set aside.

In a medium to large pot cook the spaghetti al dente by following the instructions on the spaghetti box. It’s important to use a medium/large pot because you will be adding other ingredients to the pot in a bit. The spaghetti will continue to cook later in the oven so be sure to cook it al dente.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and return the spaghetti back to the pot. Add about 1/4 cup of sauce to the pasta to keep it from sticking together. When the spaghetti has cooled to room temperature, add the spiralized zucchini to the same pot and mix them together with your hands. I use my hands to avoid breaking the zucchini noodles. Next, add the ground turkey to the spaghetti and mix them together with your hands.

In a large glass bowl beat all four eggs. Add 1/2 cup of the grated parmigiana and ricotta to the eggs and mix well. Add the egg and cheese mixture to the spaghetti and mix well. All the ingredients should now be in one pot.

Pour the spaghetti, turkey and cheese mixture into your pie dish. Top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake the spaghetti and zucchini pie in the oven for 30 minutes and then remove the pie from oven.

Increase the oven temp to BROIL. Once the oven temperature has reached BROIL, return the pie to the oven and let the pie broil for 3-5 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese begins to bumble and burn slightly (see pic below).

If your family loves this spaghetti and zucchini pie recipe as much as mine do, be sure to check out my recipe for The Ultimate Frittata. The Ultimate Frittata is yet another delicious make-ahead dish that includes all five food groups!