Spaghetti Joes

Now I'm a firm believer in reusing leftovers. Since I run a small daycare, I often bring the leftovers in for my kids at the center. Last night we had spaghetti so I brought the leftover sauce in for lunch. What I forgot to bring however, was the box of spaghetti noodles sitting in my cabinet. So, when I got here and realized I didn't have time to go back out, I started thinking of other ways to serve the kids.

In our house, spaghetti is almost always served with some form of garlic bread. One of mine and Richie's favorite things to do is eat the bread with the sauce over it a la biscuits and gravy. From those thoughts the concept for Spaghetti Joes was formed. Now, I usually use canned spaghetti sauce but if you want to make it from scratch, go for it!


1 can of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 lb ground beef or italian sausage
4 hamburger buns
3 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup italian cheeses of your choice

Preheat over to 350. In a skillet brown the ground beef or sausage. Drain. In a medium sauce pan combine browned meat and can of sauce. Heat sauce on low until hot. In skillet melt the butter then add the garlic. Sautee garlic until it browns slightly. Lay hamburger buns open in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Brush a tsp. of the garlic butter over each bun half. Bake until they begin to brown. Remove cookie sheet from oven and sprinkle cheeses over each half a bun. Return cookie sheet to the over until cheese melts. Scoop 2tbsp of sauce and meat mixture onto each bun. Enjoy!