Million-Dollar Spaghetti — The Recipe Travis Was Probably Trying to Make

Travis and Jolene's first anniversary. April 20th. One year of marriage, spent in a pandemic lockdown. They FaceTimed us on Saturday — Travis was cooking. Travis. Cooking. In his kitchen, with an apron on, making something that appeared to be spaghetti but may have been an experiment gone rogue. Jolene was behind him, coaching: "More garlic. No, MORE. Travis, that is not more." It was exactly the dynamic I expected from their marriage: Jolene directing, Travis complying, both laughing.

Travis said "Dad, I made your chili last week." I said "How was it?" He said "Sixty-five percent." I said "Not bad for your first try." He said "It was my third try." I said "Keep going." The Hensley percentage system has spread. First Clay, now Travis. Everyone is cooking, everyone is measuring themselves against Betty's standard, and Betty's standard is one hundred percent and none of us are there but all of us are trying, which is the only thing Betty ever asked of anyone: try. Don't quit. Don't settle. Try. The trying is the recipe.

Construction is opening back up next week. Limited crews, social distancing, masks. I'll be back on the site for the first time in five weeks. My back is grateful for the rest, which it needed even though I wouldn't admit it. Five weeks of not lifting lumber has given the discs time to decompress, which the doctor would call "compliance with activity modification" and which I call "forced vacation that I didn't want but that my spine appreciated."

Clay's Thursday group started meeting in person again — outdoors, in a church parking lot, folding chairs six feet apart. He came home Thursday night and said "It's better in person." I said "Of course it is." You can't share trauma through a phone. You can't look into another man's eyes through a screen and see the thing that you both carry. The thing requires proximity. The thing requires the specific vulnerability of being in the same physical space with people who know. Clay is going. Clay is showing up. Clay is sitting in a folding chair in a church parking lot six feet from other men who sat on other garage floors and decided, like Clay decided, to get up.

Travis was somewhere around sixty-five percent on his anniversary spaghetti, and I mean that as a compliment — sixty-five percent on the first real try is a starting point, not a grade. If he’d been cooking something like this Million-Dollar Spaghetti, the kind that gets layered and baked until the cheese pulls and the sauce settles in, he’d have had Jolene stop directing and start eating. This is the spaghetti you work toward. Betty made something close to it on Sunday nights when the crew was big and the table was loud, and I’ve been chasing that version ever since.

Million-Dollar Spaghetti

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 jar (24 oz) marinara or spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup butter, sliced, divided
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta. Boil spaghetti in salted water according to package directions until just al dente. Drain and set aside.
3. Brown the meat. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain fat. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Make the cheese layer. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese. Mix until smooth and well blended.
5. Build the bottom layer. Lay half the butter slices across the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the cooked spaghetti in an even layer on top.
6. Add the cheese mixture. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the spaghetti layer.
7. Add remaining butter and sauce. Lay the remaining butter slices over the cheese layer, then pour and spread the meat sauce evenly over the top.
8. Top with cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan evenly over the meat sauce.
9. Bake. Bake uncovered for 35—45 minutes, until the cheese is melted, golden, and bubbling at the edges.
10. Rest and serve. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with garlic bread and a simple salad.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 610 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 31g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 780mg