Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Casserole

Week 250. A milestone buried in the ordinary — 250 weeks of food and life and the relentless documentation of what it means to stand in a kitchen and feed people. 250 weeks since the dark morning. 250 weeks of cornbread. If cornbread had a frequent-baker card, I'd have earned a lifetime supply by now. But cornbread doesn't give rewards. Cornbread just gives sustenance. That's the deal. That's always been the deal.

Remote school is back after winter break. Chloe logged on to fourth grade with the enthusiasm of a prisoner returning to a cell that has Wi-Fi. Jayden logged on to kindergarten with the enthusiasm of a tornado approaching a trailer park — disruptive, unstoppable, and loud. Mrs. Park sent me a message: "Happy New Year, Mrs. Mitchell. Jayden's microphone was on the entire first session. We heard his complete review of his Christmas fire station, including sound effects." Sound effects. My son provided live sound effects to a kindergarten Zoom class for forty-five minutes and I was at work and didn't know. The boy is an agent of chaos and I love him.

The vaccine conversation at work: everyone is talking about it. When, where, how. Healthcare workers are in the first group. I'm a dental hygienist — am I a healthcare worker? The answer is apparently: yes, but also maybe, depending on the state, the county, and the phase of the moon. I signed up for the notification list. The notification hasn't come yet. The waiting is another layer on the already seven-layer dip of pandemic anxiety.

Terrence is vaccinated. Horizon required it. He got his first shot last week and called to tell me his arm hurt and he felt tired and the baby would be fine and Gloria is scheduled for next week and can I believe we're living through a time when a phone call about a shot in someone's arm is the most important news of the week? I can believe it. I've been believing impossible things for five years. One more isn't hard.

I made mac and cheese — the baked kind, three cheeses, breadcrumb top. The comfort food of January. The food that says: the holidays are over, the year is long, and the only reasonable response is cheese. Elijah had a few pieces of elbow macaroni — his first pasta. He gummed them with the determination of someone who has discovered a new food group and intends to explore it thoroughly. Pasta baby. Cheerio baby. Orange food baby. The boy is building a palate from the ground up and I'm his guide and his kitchen is this apartment and his first restaurant review is: elbow macaroni, two thumbs up, would eat again.

Mac and cheese was the obvious January answer — three cheeses, breadcrumb top, oven heat filling up the apartment — but the version I keep coming back to when the weeks are long and the world is heavy is this slow-cooker spaghetti casserole, because it gives me the same thing: pasta, cheese, warmth, and no decisions harder than whether to use mozzarella or also Parmesan (the answer is always also Parmesan). Elijah gummed his first elbow macaroni that week and looked at me like he’d discovered something important. He’s not wrong. Pasta is important. This casserole is why.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 4 hours | Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups water
8 oz spaghetti, broken into thirds
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef until no longer pink, about 7–8 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. Drain excess fat and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Build the base. Transfer the cooked beef to the slow cooker. Add the marinara sauce, diced tomatoes with their juices, water, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir everything together to combine.
Cook the sauce. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours or HIGH for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the sauce is fragrant and the flavors have melded.
Add the pasta. Stir the broken spaghetti directly into the slow cooker, pressing it down into the sauce so it is mostly submerged. Cover and cook on HIGH for 25–35 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the pasta is just tender. Do not overcook — it will continue softening as you add the cheese.
Layer in the cheeses. Drop spoonfuls of ricotta over the top of the pasta, then stir in half the mozzarella and all the Parmesan. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the surface in an even layer.
Melt and set. Replace the lid and cook on HIGH for an additional 10–15 minutes, until the mozzarella on top is fully melted and beginning to bubble at the edges.
Serve. Scoop into shallow bowls or onto plates. Garnish with fresh parsley if using. Serve hot, with crusty bread on the side if you want something to scrape the bowl with. You will want something to scrape the bowl with.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Crockpot Spaghetti Casserole — The Comfort of Cheese in January