Baked Spaghetti with Cream Cheese and French Fried Onions

Back in March the theme of The Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted by Tina at Moms Crazy Cooking was Spaghetti with red sauce.  I had made a Creamy Chicken Marinara dish.  I don't make spaghetti that often and hadn't tried any of the other bloggers recipes.  So, when I was in the mood to make spaghetti last week I checked out the Spaghetti Crazy Cooking Challenge to try out one of the recipes from the challenge.  Out of the 84 spaghetti recipes, this one called out to me.  I think it had something to do with the french fried onions!  I can eat those things right out of the can!  Of course, I assumed I had spaghetti and of course didn't check before I went grocery shopping.  When I went to make this dish, I discovered that I only had a box of whole wheat spaghetti.  Honestly, I really don't like the taste of the stuff, and bought a couple of boxes when they were on sale, hoping I'd end up liking it!  I really wasn't feeling "whole wheat" so I ended up making this dish with bow tie pasta instead. I prefer to use ground turkey in place of ground beef whenever possible, as I did in this dish.  This dish took a little bit of time to prepare and then requires at least thirty extra minutes of cook time.  So, this is not a quick dish.  However, it was tasty and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  And I was glad to finally be able to try out a recipe from one of the Crazy Cooking Challenges! 

Spaghetti with Cream Cheese and French Fried Onions
recipe slightly adapted from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes originally from Let's Dish

Ingredients:
1 16 oz. box bow tie pasta
1 lb. ground turkey
1 (24 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Small can French fried onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees while cooking your pasta according to the box. Drain and set aside.

Add ground turkey, onions, and garlic. Cook until meat is browned.

Add cream cheese and water. Stir until cream cheese is completely melted.

Add in spaghetti sauce, season with salt and pepper, and cook until heated through.
 
Add a little sauce on the bottom of a greased 9x13" dish.
 
Add pasta and then pour sauce evenly over the top.
 
Top with mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Add French fried onions and bake for 5 more minutes.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.