This spaghetti hides vegetables in the sauce AND the noodles. Now that’s a new trick isn’t it? Use your favorite kind of nitrite free sausage links or ground turkey if you plan to top it off with meat, and use leftover sauce as a wonderful pizza topping with the MEAL EXTENDER suggestion below.
Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash -- smaller sized if using noodles
12 oz(s) spaghetti noodles -- or udon noodles
1 onion -- diced fine
3 garlic clove(s) -- crushed
1 bell pepper(s) -- diced
1/2 cup(s) parsley -- minced
9 shiitake mushrooms -- diced, or summer squash
25 oz(s) spaghetti sauce -- organic
4 oz(s) tomato paste
14 oz(s) turkey sausage -- look for nitrite free, chop 1/2" chunks
Directions
Prep Work: Chop onions; store separately. Chop peppers, parsley and mushrooms; store together.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and place halves face down in rimmed baking dish. Add 1/4 c. water to pan and bake for 40 min., or until squash is easily pierced with a fork. (If using uncooked sausage, place in baking pan along with squash until cooked through.)
2. Heat water for noodles and cook according to package directions. Rinse when done and return to pan to stay warm. (Skip this if using only squash.)
3. Heat a few Tbsp. olive oil in large skillet and saute onions 4 min., or until they are starting to soften. Add garlic, peppers, parsley and mushrooms; cook 3 min. more, stirring frequently.
4. Add spaghetti sauce, tomato paste and diced sausage to skillet. I also like to add up to 1/2 c. red wine, more oregano to taste and approx. 1/3 c. nutritional yeast for more flavor here, but it is also fine only one, or none of these optional additions. Salt and pepper to taste and simmer on low until ready to serve, up to 30 min.
5. Hold cooked squash with oven mit covered hand and scrape flesh using downward motion with a fork to make “noodles”. Stir into spaghetti noodles. Serve sauce over noodles in bowls and sprinkle with parmesan (or any other) cheese if desired.
*Nutritional Yeast- grown on molasses and not living when you get it, but full of amino acids and b vitamins…an extra dose of nutrients that tastes great with this kind of dishMEAL EXTENDERS:
Leftover spaghetti sauce becomes pizza! Blend very briefly in a blender leaving some chunky texture to the sauce. Add some oregano and cumin to taste, spread on prepared crust, or even flat bread or pita bread, top with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for approx. 12 min., or until cheese melts and turns golden on edges. Extra toppings could be sliced bell pepper, olives, sauteed onion slices, artichoke hearts, green onion, small pineapple chunks, or sliced leftover meat of any kind, etc. See this similar recipe for a picture.
