On Top of Spaghetti, All Covered with Cheese 🙂
In the summer we usually grow more spaghetti squash than we can ever eat. I’m certain, by the end of the growing season, we’ve cooked it every possible way, given it to friends and family and we all swear we’ve had enough! But, a few months without it once the season is over, and we can’t hardly wait to start it up again. My crop is in the garden, but I don’t have any squash quite yet. Let me tell you, just one plant will give you tons of squash!
In hopeful anticipation of the upcoming season, I decided to go for this really easy dinner using a little store-bought spaghetti squash. One half per person is a perfect serving size.
Earlier this week, I made my “clean-out-the-fridge” recipe for Quiche https://wp.me/p9KEfL-sc . After that, I was a little low on veggie supply, so I decided to throw together a quick pasta sauce and add some sausage. This is the kind of week night dinner you can put together quickly. It’s healthy and delicious. Here’s how I made it!
Love Boats
You know how people are always saying that using a vegetable is as delicious as the item you’re substituting the vegetable for? Well, with spaghetti squash, it’s almost correct. I know a lot of people don’t eat them often like we do, or some haven’t even tried them. But, when you consider the calorie switch from about 220 per 1 cup serving of pasta to 42 for 1 cup spaghetti squash, it’s pretty compelling. That’s not even taking into consideration the carb difference of 42 for pasta vs. 10 for spaghetti squash! So, the more dinners we make with spaghetti squash, the more we can have the other sinful stuff too. Just balance. It’s a challenge for me, but this switch is actually a pretty delicious one! Then I have more room to fill the squash with delicious goodies too!
Squash-ing
Split your squash in half. Spaghetti squash is usually much easier to cut open than other squash. Remove the seeds from the center. Top with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven on a baking sheet, covered in foil, for about 30 minutes at 400°
If you squash is large, adjust the cooking time. You want the “spaghetti” insides to pull away from the shell easily, with a fork.
Remove casings on two to four Italian sausages.
Add them to a medium pan and let them brown on medium heat. Remove from the pan and set aside. Then, chop 1/2 a large brown onion, or, cast all caution to the wind and go ahead and use the whole onion! Mince 3 cloves of garlic. Add mushrooms too! Saute in the same pan you cooked the sausage in, until the onions are browned, about 10 minutes on medium low heat. Add sausage back to pan, add 1 cup frozen peas, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
Remove squash from the oven. Using a fork, pull the “spaghetti” strands from the squash, keeping them inside the “bowl” of the squash. Add sauce and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Put the squash back on the backing tray and in the oven to cook another 15 minutes, until bubbly and the cheese has melted. Serve right in the squash “bowl”! NO DISHES! Who can’t get behind this kinda thing? Am I right?
Ingredients
- 2 small spaghetti squash, split in half, seeded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2-4 Italian sausage links, casings removed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Split squash in half, remove seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt and some fresh ground black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes until the squash "spaghetti" lifts and separates easily with a fork. Set aside.
- In a medium pan, crumble and brown sausage. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan you browned the sausage, saute the onions and garlic until the onions are browned, about 5 minutes on medium low heat. Add the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup frozen peas, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Mix Well. Fill each squash with sauce mixture and top with grated cheese
- Remove squash from the oven. Using a fork, pull the "spaghetti" strands from the squash, keeping them inside the "bowl" of the squash. Add sauce and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Put the squash back in the oven and cook another 15 minutes until bubbly and the cheese has melted. Serve right in the squash "bowl" or remove and serve on a plate or bowl.
