Guilt Free “Pasta”

Is there such a thing as guilt-free pasta? Yes, and no. Enter Spaghetti Squash. I know you all probably heard about spaghetti squash and how people substitute this vegetable for pasta. Sounds crazy right? At first, I was very skeptical, but I always like to try something at least once. I’ll be the first to say the first time I made spaghetti squash it was a watery mess, and only left me hungry and wanting to eat real pasta! I didn’t let that stop me, and did some more troubleshooting until I figured out the perfect recipe.

There are a couple of recipes that will have you cut up the squash, and then place some water in the pan. That may work for some people, but it wasn’t for me. I found that cooking it at a very high temperature will help reduce the water and give you a more firm “pasta.”

Another tip to making this taste more like pasta is to have good sauce. If you are pressed for time, you can use jar sauce and doctor it up, or if you have time to make the sauce, you can check out here for my sauce recipe here. I made this during the work week and was feeling lazy, so I decided to use a jar sauce because it would get me great results, and save me some time. I like using Bart pasta sauce; it serves as a great base. I’m going to share some tips for making this jar sauce taste more homemade

1. Add veggies. If you have fresh onion, garlic, and peppers that helps!
2. Use meat to thicken up your sauce. I used ground hot Italian chicken sausage. Feel free to use beef, turkey, whatever your heart desires.
3. Add fresh herbs; oregano, thyme, parsley can help add in some great flavor
4. Seasonings; I use my staple seasonings in the sauce. Garlic powder, onion, salt, and pepper.
5. Sugar! I know it’s weird but add in a spoonful of sugar, and this brings all the flavor together.
6. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 mins. If it gets too thick add some water and little olive oil!
7. With those quick steps, you have now elevated your jar pasta sauce.

Spaghetti Squash recipe is below and it is super simple. In about 40 minutes you’ll have healing of guilt-free pasta!

5 from 1 vote

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Guilt Free Spaghetti Squash

Enjoy as much of this guilt-free "pasta". This is a quick and easy dish for you to prepare and a perfect option when you want to meal prep! Have this pasta as your main dish with a side salad!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Dinner, Healthy, Spaghetti Squash

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 4

Author Shola

Ingredients

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• Olive Oil
• salt
• pepper
• 24 ounce Bertolli Sauce
• 1-2 tsp garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp onion powder
• 1 package ground spicy Italian sausage
• 3 cloves garlic

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 460 degrees.

2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, and brush the top with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

3. Once the oven is ready place the squash on a baking sheet. Cook the squash until it is golden brown on the top. This should take about 40-45 mins

4. While the squash is cooking start to prepare your sauce.

5. to a medium sized saucepan add your garlic, and onion to the pan with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook the garlic until it becomes fragrant.

6. Add in your meat of choice and brown. Make sure to drain the meat to get out the extra oil.

   
   

7. Add your sauce to the meat and garlic mixture. Add the rest of your seasonings. I use my staple seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder) Also be sure to add in some thyme, oregano, basil. Add some chicken stock or red wine to deglaze the pan, this will help incorporate all the flavors

8. Add your tomato sauce to the pan, and add a spoonful of sugar to bring all the flavors together.

9. Simmer the sauce on low for about 20 minutes. If the sauce gets to thick you can add some water to it.

10. Once the squash is ready let it cool for about 10 mins. This will make the process easy if you're able to handle the squash. Use a fork to remove the seeds, and using a rake motion to create the spaghetti strands. Make sure to do this over a bowl. 

11. Top your spaghetti with your homemade sauce, sprinkle some cheese and enjoy!

Cooking up That Work Vol. 16

Its been forever since I gave you guys one of my mixes! In honor of my Nigerian independence day just posting here are my favorite Afro Beats I have been jamming. I didn’t get a chance to make a dish again in honor of Nigerian Independence, but check out the post I made last year! Hope you enjoy 🙂

Until next time!