The Spaghetti Western...or Spaghetti Squash Cometh

Upon getting back on track from a vacation, Karen insisted that we cook a spaghetti squash. Not sure if she was convinced by Tina talking about spaghetti squash or it was just because we happened to buy one a couple days before I had left for New York. It's a toss up. Either way Karen wanted me to make one of her favorites- Spaghetti Squash Lasagna.  

Spaghetti squash is actually pretty tasty alternative to pasta for you folks looking to eat better. Per a quick google search, you're talking 42 calories/10g of carbs for 1 cup of squash vs. 220 calories/42g of carbs for 1 cup of spaghetti noodles. Pretty much ran across knowing what a spaghetti squash was while perusing Instagram. Among the various quotes and artwork, there was a recipe for spaghetti squash lasagna. Seemed like it would be good so figured why not.  Unfortunately don't have a link/website so here's my ad-lib instructions:

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

olive oil

Adobo or Salt & Pepper

1 lb (or package which is usually 1.25 lbs) of ground turkey

2 cups pasta sauce (your favorite)

1/2 cup Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese

2 TBSP of basil (fresher is better)

How to Get It Done:

Pre-heat the oven 400 degrees. Usually do this first unless you're me and you forget then you have to wait. Cut the spaghetti squash in half length wise and scoop out the gunk and seeds. Rub/coat the insides of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle your seasoning of choice- in my case Adobo.  Get a baking dish- like 9x13 or bigger and put in squash open side down. Fill pan with about a cup of water. Going to bake this in the oven for 50 minutes.  

In the meantime you can mix up the Ricotta, Mozzarella, and basil in a separate bowl. In a pan cook up the ground turkey. Once browned add the pasta sauce and cook for a couple more minutes. 

Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Basil mixture

Ground Turkey and Pasta Sauce

Once the spaghetti squash is done, take it out, and drain the water. Flip the spaghetti over and using a fork to shred and scoop out the inside. Then you are going to want to layer the squash, cheese mixture, and turkey back into the squash halves.

The set up for the Spaghetti Squash

Then you will put it in the oven to broil it until the cheese melts/browns which I would say is another 10-15 minutes.  I suppose if you don't have a broil option in your oven I would just  bake it some more until the cheese is nice and melted. And that is how you make Spaghetti Squash Lasagna.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

This is one of Karen's favorite meals- obviously as she asked me to make it. Further proof is she doesn't add sour cream or let me share leftovers with folks so you know it has to be very decent at the least. Once again not my original recipe so wish I could give credit where it's due.  Pretty simple to make and worth the effort.

#Pastafarian,

Reef