Baked Spaghetti Fake Out

georgia girl · February 26, 2008

I guess I'm on a spaghetti squash kick because I made spaghetti squash again tonight. This is a tasty way to enjoy spaghetti with out the guilt of all those noodles.

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

1 tablespoon EVOO

Salt & pepper

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (96/4)

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

3 cups Ragu spaghetti sauce (old world style)

Italian seasoning to taste

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cut squash in half, lengthwise, and spoon out the seeds. Brush with EVOO and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Lay both pieces, face-down, on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick aluminum foil and bake at 350 for at least an hour, maybe longer. (Bake until skin is very very soft if you want the consistency to be like noodles). Let them cool completely.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef, drain and put back in pan. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Then add spaghetti sauce, salt & pepper to taste, and Italian seasoning to taste. Let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Once squash is cooled, rake out the squash into a mixing bowl with a fork. Add sauce mixture and toss well. Put the mixture in a baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

I really didn't miss the noodles with this one. It was very tasty.

Here's the nutritional information: Serving size is 1/8 of recipe (which is a good size portion)

Calories- 117

Fat- 5g

Carbs- 7g

Protein- 9g

jljeje · February 26, 2008

Wow, this sound very good! Just copied it & added it to my recipe file.

Thanks for sharing - especially the caloric breakdown.

June

georgia girl · February 26, 2008

Wow, this sound very good! Just copied it & added it to my recipe file.
Thanks for sharing - especially the caloric breakdown. :biggrin:

June

Your welcome. Let me know if you like it. Granted, it's not going to taste exactly like real spaghetti, but like I said, I really didn't miss the noodles.

staindgal · February 27, 2008

I just have 2 questions that are probably very stupid... :biggrin:

1. Is there really something called a "spaghetti squash?" Is it called by anything else? Where do you find it?

2. What is EVOO? Where do you find it?

Thanks for any help... I can hardly boil water!

luluc · February 27, 2008

Georgia Girl,

Keep 'em coming w/the recipes...I made a dish last wk w/spaghetti squash (prepared same evoo - cool down), took lean pork chops and made a stiry fry w/sugar snap peas / pepers / onions / (can use any veggies) w/a light sesame oil / sauce....poured it over the squash and nobody missed rice or noodles.

Spaghetti squash is in the veggie section and labled as such..EVOO, Extra Virgin Olive Oil....

georgia girl · February 27, 2008

I just have 2 questions that are probably very stupid... :smile2:
1. Is there really something called a "spaghetti squash?" Is it called by anything else? Where do you find it?

2. What is EVOO? Where do you find it?

Thanks for any help... I can hardly boil water!

That's funny...........but up until a couple of months ago, I really didn't know what they were either. I didn't know one squash from the other, lol. Actually the spaghetti squash kinda reminds me of a pumpkin, in it's smell and the seeds look like pumpkin seeds.

georgia girl · February 27, 2008

Georgia Girl,
Keep 'em coming w/the recipes...I made a dish last wk w/spaghetti squash (prepared same evoo - cool down), took lean pork chops and made a stiry fry w/sugar snap peas / pepers / onions / (can use any veggies) w/a light sesame oil / sauce....poured it over the squash and nobody missed rice or noodles.

Spaghetti squash is in the veggie section and labled as such..EVOO, Extra Virgin Olive Oil....

Oooooo, that sounds good! Thanks for sharing! I didn't miss the noodles either in this recipe. My 2 year old son even liked it.

travelgirl · February 27, 2008

MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm..... This sounds absolutely wonderful.

webbgirl259 · February 29, 2008

Extra Virgin Olive Oil And Yes I Believe It Called Spaghetti Squash At The Store

Frustrated · March 4, 2008

I made this tonight and it was delicious. :cursing: I'm going to think of different ways to switch up the recipe. Perhaps use ground turkey, or add spinach, or some hot sauce to give it a bit of a kick. Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration georgia girl. :drool:

georgia girl · March 4, 2008

I made this tonight and it was delicious. :cursing: I'm going to think of different ways to switch up the recipe. Perhaps use ground turkey, or add spinach, or some hot sauce to give it a bit of a kick. Thanks for the recipe and the inspiration georgia girl. :drool:

I'm glad you liked it! I love the idea of adding spinach to it. I do that when I make whole wheat Pasta, I just added the spinach to the sauce and it turned out really good.

You know, I made homemade sloppy joe's tonight for my husband, and I used ground turkey and it turned out really good. I added a little chili powder and a little taco seasoning to my sauce (which was ground turkey, spaghetti sauce, sauteed onions and peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, and a little cumin) for a little kick and he loved it. I cook now more than I ever have and I love trying to create new meals. Thanks for the tips.

How did your spaghetti squash come out? I've made this 3 times and one of the times, I didn't cook the spaghetti squash long enough once and it was a little crunchy. It really didn't bother me, but my husband has a texture issue with food, so last time I made sure I cooked it a little longer, until it almost caved in when I pressed the skin. Did yours come out soft or a little crunchy?

Frustrated · March 4, 2008

Did yours come out soft or a little crunchy?

Mine came out soft. I cooked it for an extra 10 minutes. It was kind of big so I thought I'd give it a little longer. I took it out of the oven and let it sit for a little bit and one half sank in during that time. I was surprised how easily it came out of the casing. It's the first time I've cooked spaghetti squash but it certainly won't be the last. :drool:

newmommy · March 6, 2008

what does the squash taste like? my husband and i are extremely picky.. does it have a strong taste?

Frustrated · March 6, 2008

what does the squash taste like? my husband and i are extremely picky.. does it have a strong taste?

It has a quite mild taste. The texture (to me) is like cooked, shredded potato you would buy in the frozen food section to make hash browns.

georgia girl · March 6, 2008

what does the squash taste like? my husband and i are extremely picky.. does it have a strong taste?

It doesn't have a strong taste at all to me. My husband is VERY picky and he loved it!!!

When I cut mine open, it smells sort of like a pumpkin to me, and the seeds look like pumpkin seeds, but it does not taste like a pumpkin when it's cooked. It's hard to say what it taste like, because it does taste different that regular squash, but in a good way. When you rake it out the shell, it looks like angel hair Pasta.