Spiralized Potato Spaghetti Pie
Try this Spiralized Potato Spaghetti Pie recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Spiralized Potato Spaghetti Pie recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt and pepper
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- chopped parsley to garnish
- 3 medium eggs beaten
- 1 pound ground turkey lean
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large russet potatoes peeled, blade d
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 1.25 cup marinara sauce
- Carbohydrate 43.8553093370218 g
- Cholesterol 155.074451204423 mg
- Fat 8.92247806011966 g
- Fiber 4.33383975673301 g
- Protein 28.9149393622942 g
- Saturated Fat 3.68706080764191 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (376g)
- Sodium 447.773496397011 mg
- Sugar 39.5214695802888 g
- Trans Fat 1.04712614349584 g
- Calories 371 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Once oil is shimmering, add the potato noodles and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss until mostly cooked and lightly browned, about 10 minutes and then transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Let cool for 1 minute and then add in the egg and toss well to combine.
- Spread the noodles out to cover the bottom of an oven-safe casserole dish. Transfer the casserole dish to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the egg is cooked and the noodles are set and appear firm when pressed down with the back of a spatula. Ideally, the crust should start to brown and perhaps some of the edges are crispy.
- As the crust cooks, heat the remaining oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is shimmering, add the carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and let cook for 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Push the vegetables to one side and add the turkey meat, crumbling and cooking until no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Add the marinara sauce, oregano and basil, season with salt and pepper, and cook until mixture thickens, 5-7 minutes.
- Once spiralized potato bottom is set, remove the dish from the oven and pour over the meat mixture, spreading evenly across the potato bottom. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese evenly and put back in the oven, baking for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts.
- Remove casserole from oven, garnish with parsley, and serve.
Starch retrogradation transforms spiralized russet potatoes from rigid noodles into a cohesive, sliceable pie crust when bound with beaten eggs and baked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Russets contain high levels of amylose, a linear starch molecule that gels firmly as moisture evaporates during the initial fifteen-minute bake. Letting the cooked potato noodles cool slightly before incorporating the eggs prevents premature protein coagulation, ensuring the raw egg coats the starch strands evenly instead of scrambling on contact. When the casserole returns to the oven, these set starches create a sturdy structural foundation capable of supporting heavy layers of meat and sauce without disintegrating.
Sautéing carrots and diced onions in shimmering extra-virgin olive oil initiates the Maillard reaction and caramelization, building essential savory depth before the lean ground turkey enters the pan. Crumbling the turkey thoroughly maximizes surface area contact with the hot skillet surface, allowing moisture to escape rapidly so the meat browns rather than steams. Incorporating dried oregano and basil directly into the simmering marinara sauce hydrates the herb tissues, releasing lipophilic essential oils into the tomato base where they bond harmoniously with the natural acidity of the fruit. Simmering this mixture for five to seven minutes concentrates the flavor compounds by driving off excess water.
Shredded mozzarella provides the final textural contrast by melting into a continuous lipid matrix that traps steam released from the bubbling sauce underneath. Casein proteins in the cheese undergo physical changes at approximately 130 degrees Fahrenheit, softening and flowing outward to form an elastic blanket over the turkey filling during the final ten minutes of baking. Sprinkling fresh chopped parsley over the melted cheese introduces volatile sulfur compounds that cut through the rich dairy fats with a clean, herbaceous counterpoint. Garnishing immediately before slicing preserves the bright green color of the parsley leaves by preventing heat degradation.
Adapting this dish for larger gatherings requires careful attention to pan capacity and moisture evaporation rates. Doubling the ingredients necessitates baking in two separate casserole dishes to maintain the high surface-area-to-volume ratio required for the potato crust to achieve proper crispness along the edges. Overcrowding a single dish traps steam beneath the surface, preventing the starches from setting into a firm base and resulting in a soggy, unsupportive crust.
