My good friend Allison and I had dinner the other night with our “littles” while our husbands took our older boys to their first Orlando Magic game. The kids ate mini bowtie pasta with sauce, while we enjoyed our spaghetti squash and some wine. This was Allison’s first time trying spaghetti squash and she loved it! We cleaned our plates and were completely satisfied.
I love to chunk up my tomato sauce with extra veggies. In this particular sauce, I added whatever I had on hand…mushrooms, zucchini, squash and of course onion and garlic. I used seasoned ground turkey for protein, but turkey sausage would also be delicious in this sauce.
I took someone’s advice from my last Spaghetti Squash post and microwaved it whole to make it easier to cut through. I poked some holes in the squash then microwaved it for 4-5 minutes. The skin is then soft enough to cut through easily. Cut spaghetti squash in half longways, clean out the seeds and membranes, then place open side down in a baking dish filled with about a 1/4 cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for another 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the squash (refer to the sticker on the squash for more exact times). Once cooked, let cool a bit, then take a fork and scrape out the stringy flesh onto your plate to serve.
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen
2 tsp olive oil
1 large (28oz) can of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 large zucchini, large dice
2 yellow squash, large dice
1 med onion, chopped
mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground turkey, cooked and seasoned
1 large spaghetti squash
Parmesan cheese, for serving
red pepper flakes, for serving
In a large heated saute pan, drizzle a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and add onions and garlic. Cook onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add zucchini, squash, and mushrooms and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes over medium high heat. Season vegetables with salt and pepper to taste. Then add ground turkey and tomatoes, combine and let cook through. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Scrape out stringy flesh of cooked spaghetti squash into plate and serve with sauce. Add Parmesan and red pepper flakes to taste.
(for a printable version of this recipe click here)
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks great and such a good low cal idea. But make sure you eat the real kind before your triathalon!
I love spaghetti squash. What a great meal.
Love spag squash- such an easy and filling dinner. The addition of turkey adds some great protein. Love the veggies in there too! You make such great dinners
Yahoo for spaghetti squash. I love it with a veggie marinara! I really need to make it and soon! Great meal idea!
Aggie, this is a great recipe. Perfect weeknight meal for a calorie watcher (that would be me
).
Looks yummy Aggie! I have never tried Spaghetti Squash before. hmmm, what am I waiting for?
This looks so fabulous. I was so happy when I saw spaghetti squash in the store still. I got a couple. Yum!
Looks delish! Ricotta and strawberries! YUM! I just bought a whole flat today!
Thank you for this recipe.
Lucky, lucky boys! Who were they playing?
I need to make spaghetti squash again. First time wasn’t quite what I wanted, and next time I want to use it like you did here, with a ragu as a replacement for noodles. Looks really good!
It looks wonderful, Aggie! I love spaghetti squash. It’s yummy and it’s a very calorie friendly food. Thanks for reminding me!
Absolutely delicious – loved this meal! Thanks Aggie for a great meal and great fun with you and the littles!! ~Allison
Your pasta looks so good and appetizing. What a great dinner idea.
This is a great recipe! I need to eat more spaghetti squash as I love the stuff. Your sauce sounds fantastic as well. What a perfect meal to share with a friend.
I love spaghetti squash but it’s one of those things I never think of making! This looks delicious and I like the addition of turkey to make it more filling.
That looks delicious. I’ve never had good luck with spaghetti squash.
When you cook the squash, is yours still a little crunchy? Maybe I’m not cooking mine long enough, but I find the crunchiness to be off-putting…so I don’t make it anymore. Plus, I doubt I could get my husband to eat it!
What a great recipe Aggie – I need to use more spaghetti squash.
I was scared of Twitter and didn’t sign up! Such a baby I am when it comes to new technology. Love your spaghetti squash and also that banana bread looks fab.
Anonymous – The first time I cooked spag squah, it was VERY soggy/mushy, and I did not like it all. Now I find it to be more firm, kinda like “al dente” pasta, but yours sounds like it might have needed another minute or two. I didn’t think my husband would like it but he loved it, very surprising. I’ve scraped it out and refrigerated it before and saved it for quick lunches with jarred sauce.
Sounds like a nice healthy meal. I like spaghetti squash, but I have never actually eaten it with sauce like spaghetti. It looks really yummy!
Mmmm … I love spaghetti squash, and I love how you chunked up your sauce with additional veggies! What a great tip, too, about microwaving it to make it easier to cut through. Another great recipe from Aggie!
OH.. I loved when my mum would make this… butter, sauce.. but you had me fooled… I seriously thought this was pasta…
This look so tasty I love a good bowl of spaghetti.