I'm at it again - another spaghetti squash recipe to add to the collection. I only have 2 spaghetti squash left from our garden; what will I make once I use these up? Will another vegetable come into my life as the spaghetti squash did this year? Will I survive until next year's spaghetti squash crop? Stay tuned for more on the spaghetti squash saga...
Within the past few weeks Josh has really become interested in canning. He loves to research and has been investigating this whole canning biz. We already had some canning supplies, but he went out and bought a few more things after talking with our neighbor, who is our resident canning expert. We are so grateful for the knowledge she has shared and the day she spent helping us can chili and spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti Sauce - the whole reason for this post, right? Well, the first thing that Josh canned was a salsa batch that he whipped up (it was pretty tasty). When we were deciding what to can next, our neighbor offered her marinara sauce recipe which is what I used to make the spaghetti squash primavera. We made the marinara sauce with and without ground turkey, but I made last night's dinner with the ground turkey. We had canned it so it was already made when I decided to make dinner last night, but if you want to make everything at once, here's what you'll need to know.
Marinara Sauce:
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 28 ounce cans of tomatoes, cut up (we were able to use fresh tomatoes from our garden)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crushed
Dash of pepper
Dash of red pepper
1 pound of Ground Turkey (optional)
In a 3-quart saucepan cook onion, carrots, and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown. We added ground turkey into our sauce, but that choice is entirely up to you! If you decide to use the ground turkey, you can put your carrot mixture into a bowl and set aside. Brown the ground turkey in the 3 quart sauce pan and then return the carrot mixture to the pan. Add the undrained tomatoes, salt, sugar, oregano, pepper and red pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes (or to desired consistency).
While this simmers, you can prepare the spaghetti squash. There are various ways to prepare your squash, as I've learned this past summer, and I usually opt for the quicker cook times, but this time I went with the oven method. If you want a quicker cook time, you can boil the squash or even microwave it, but make sure to puncture the squash first.
I learned a little trick about cutting up the spaghetti squash so that you don't lose a finger. Place a towel underneath the squash so that it is a little more stabilized. Use a smaller knife to lightly cut the squash vertically (on both sides). Then take your larger knife and start to cut through. Once I have cut the spaghetti squash all the way around, I take the knife out and jiggle the squash around until it opens.
Scoop out all of the seeds and membrane. I put a little olive oil on the inside of the squash, and sprinkled on some salt and pepper then put them open side down on a cookie sheet. Place these bad boys in a preheated oven at 400 F and bake for an hour.
Ingredients for everything else:
(I'm sure you can use all sorts of vegetables here: broccoli, zucchini, onions...but I went with what I had in my refrigerator).
1 tsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
mozzarella to top it all off (optional - but so delicious)
In a medium/large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and heat for just a minute or so. Add the celery, carrots, and bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with a little salt and pepper, if you desire.
The marinara sauce should be ready by now, so you can add it into the celery/carrot/bell pepper mixture and increase the heat to medium and simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes (until the vegetables are tender).
Grab a casserole dish (I sprayed some coconut oil spray on mine) and fill the casserole dish with the spaghetti squash primavera. Top with mozzarella cheese, if you desire...
...and place everything in the oven until the cheese is ooey and gooey.
We didn't have any leftovers. I guess you could say it was a hit?!
My husband asked if we could have this for dinner again the next night...maybe I'm not the only Spaghetti Squash lover in this house?
