Alright Alright.. I have a few things to apologize for.
1. This isn't a recipe for Spaghetti... it's a recipe for Italian spaghetti squash casserole.. but I SWEAR, you will hardly know the difference. This is one of mine and Blain's VERY favorites.
2. I haven't posted in a while, so shame on me. I know you're all just sitting there refreshing your browsers, going hungry, waiting for my next recipe so you know what to cook for dinner... right?! Totally kidding. But I do want to apologize for keeping this recipe from you for SO long. It was very selfish of me. See, I've been making this for MONTHS now and just keep forgetting to put it up here. Why? Because I'm too busy chowing down on this spaghetti squash casserole. It's. That. Good.
Here's a little secret you may or may not know about me. I'm pretttttttty sure I was supposed to be born in Italy. I may have blond hair, blue eyes, and a Chicago accent, but I swear I should've been Italian. OOOHHH, mamaaaaa Miaaaa. See how good I am?! If you read that out loud the way you SHOULD have, then you know my Italian accent is on point. But all jokes aside, I love me some Italian food.
And ya know what sucks about that!? Italian food is a loooooootttttt of bread, pasta and cheese. (my favorites).
How in the WORLD does someone who loves Italian food give up carbs and cheese?! GOOD QUESTION. Here's the answer: you find recipes like THIS ONE and trick yourself into thinking you're eating pasta in Florence, when you're really eating a VEGETABLE WITH MORE VEGETABLES at your kitchen table. What?!?!?!?!?! Alright alright, enough build up. Here's the masterpiece of a recipe... ready set go!
1. This isn't a recipe for Spaghetti... it's a recipe for Italian spaghetti squash casserole.. but I SWEAR, you will hardly know the difference. This is one of mine and Blain's VERY favorites.
2. I haven't posted in a while, so shame on me. I know you're all just sitting there refreshing your browsers, going hungry, waiting for my next recipe so you know what to cook for dinner... right?! Totally kidding. But I do want to apologize for keeping this recipe from you for SO long. It was very selfish of me. See, I've been making this for MONTHS now and just keep forgetting to put it up here. Why? Because I'm too busy chowing down on this spaghetti squash casserole. It's. That. Good.
Here's a little secret you may or may not know about me. I'm pretttttttty sure I was supposed to be born in Italy. I may have blond hair, blue eyes, and a Chicago accent, but I swear I should've been Italian. OOOHHH, mamaaaaa Miaaaa. See how good I am?! If you read that out loud the way you SHOULD have, then you know my Italian accent is on point. But all jokes aside, I love me some Italian food.
And ya know what sucks about that!? Italian food is a loooooootttttt of bread, pasta and cheese. (my favorites).
How in the WORLD does someone who loves Italian food give up carbs and cheese?! GOOD QUESTION. Here's the answer: you find recipes like THIS ONE and trick yourself into thinking you're eating pasta in Florence, when you're really eating a VEGETABLE WITH MORE VEGETABLES at your kitchen table. What?!?!?!?!?! Alright alright, enough build up. Here's the masterpiece of a recipe... ready set go!
Here is what you'll need:
-Large sauce pan
-Stove top
-Oven
-Casserole Dish
-Mixing Bowl
-Baking Sheet
Here are the ingredients:
-1 Spaghetti Squash
-Coconut Oil
-1 Red Onion, diced
-3-5 Tomatoes (depending on size)
-1 T minced garlic
-1 t garlic powder
-1 t onion powder
-1 t oregano
-Big Handful of Fresh Spinach (Yes, those are my exact measurements)
-1 pound lean ground beef (could use ground turkey)
-1 egg
Here's what you do:
1.) Preheat your oven to 400.
2.) Take your spaghetti squash and cut in half. Scrape out the seeds. Place face down on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. While your squash is in the oven, FORGEDDAABOUUUTATTTT. (see? again there goes my meant-to-be Italian heritage coming out) and begin chopping your veggies.
3.) In a large sauce pan, heat up a scoop of coconut oil then saute the tomatoes, red onions and garlic. Add seasonings. Once the vegetables seem to be cooked through, add your handful of spinach and cook it down. Transfer veggie mixture to a large mixing bowl.
4.) Brown ground beef, drain, then add to large mixing bowl with veggies.
5.) Once squash has baked for 25 minutes, remove and shred the inside of the squash with a fork. The "spaghetti" strings you are removing from the squash can go directly into the large mixing bowl with the other ingredients.
6.) Add egg and mix together well.
7.) Pour mixture into a casserole dish and cook at 400 for 15 minutes.
8.) Remove from oven and serve hot! Pretend your in Italy and eat your face off!
-Makes about 6-8 servings- (depending on your portions and how many times you go back for seconds vs what you want to save as left overs)
Also, I've decided to start adding Nutrition Facts to all of my recipes. So if you're interested in those facts, scroll down to the bottom of the post to find the nutrition facts for that dish!
[Photos of Whole Process Below]
Step 1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Always preheat your oven before you start mixing or adding any ingredients to any bowl. There is nothing worse than getting to the point in a recipe where you're ready to pop something in the oven and you realize you have to wait 15 minutes for it to heat up. ALWAYS let this be your first step.
Step 2) Cut your spaghetti squash in half length wise. They will look like this once you cut those suckers open. Then you should scrape out the seeds and dump those, they're useless. THEN, take both halves and place them FACE DOWN on the baking sheet (this part isn't pictured but you all know what face down means, right? It's the opposite of what I have photographed to show you the insides. Those should be flipped over on the baking sheet) and put them into your oven for about 25 minutes.
Step 3) This is a pretty heavily photographed step so I'll just throw all of the pictures down below. But in a large sauce pan, heat up a scoop of coconut oil then saute the tomatoes, red onions and garlic. Add seasonings. Once the vegetables seem to be cooked through, add your handful of spinach and cook it down.
Step 4) Brown ground beef, drain, then add to large mixing bowl with veggies.
Step 5) Once squash has baked for 25 minutes, remove and shred the inside of the squash with a fork. The "spaghetti" strings you are removing from the squash can go directly into the large mixing bowl with the other ingredients.
Step 6) In one large mixing bowl, mix together the veggie mixture, the ground beef, and the spaghetti squash. Add egg and mix together WELL.
Step 7) Pour mixture into a casserole dish and cook at 400 for 15 minutes.
Step 8) Remove from oven and serve hot! Pretend your in Italy and eat your face off!
We plated ours with some steamed broccoli and it was a perfect side dish for this! Seriously, your senses will be going hay-wire because in your mouth and stomach and heart you think you're eating a great Italian spaghetti dish.. but really it's SQUASH, TOMATOES, SPINACH, ONIONS and BEEF?!? And there's no cheese?!? It's somewhat mind boggling.
Last but definitely not least.. just like I promised, I've decided to begin adding the Nutrition Facts to each recipe I put my name behind and post on this blog. I calculate these Nutrition Facts on myfitnesspal.com on their Recipe Nutrition Calculator! It's AWESOME. And you can do it too! If you are ever curious about your own recipes, click the link above.
But anyway - like I said, here are the facts on the savory Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole. Pretty incredible that the ENTIRE casserole that could serve 8 people is only 1410 calories.. that's a FRACTION of what most casserole dishes are, especially ones that incorporate cheese (ahhh.. cheese...). And at only 176 calories per serving, you won't mind having seconds or thirds!
But anyway - like I said, here are the facts on the savory Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole. Pretty incredible that the ENTIRE casserole that could serve 8 people is only 1410 calories.. that's a FRACTION of what most casserole dishes are, especially ones that incorporate cheese (ahhh.. cheese...). And at only 176 calories per serving, you won't mind having seconds or thirds!
Moral of that story... Cook it. Try it. Eat it. Love it. And let me know!
xox,
L
L