Spaghetti Squash Lasagna (Grain-Free)

As much as I absolutely love reading, I’ve never been a fast reader. In fact, I’m downright and embarrassingly slow when it comes to reading.

Miraculously, I’ve been able to survive college so far without this interfering with my grades (I just have no social life). But this semester, the pressure is on thanks to my upper-level history course.

Who in their right mind assigns a 300+ page book to be read and heavily noted within 6 days on top of “light reading” of another 72 pages???

I’ve done nothing for the past few days except reading.

Thankfully, my dad picked up some spaghetti squash to ease my sufferings.

I don’t really view spaghetti squash as the equivalent to traditional pasta. Rather, I see it as vegetable with its own distinct taste and texture. That being said, I see nothing wrong in pairing it with cheese, meat and sauce to create a meal similar to the traditional lasagna.

Its comforting, yummy layers momentarily makes me forget the “light reading” I now need to attend to…

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna (Grain-Free)

Ingredients:

1 large spaghetti squash

12 oz precooked italian sausage, cut into small pieces

1 (15oz) container of whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 and 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Marinara Sauce:

1 (28oz) can of crushed roasted tomatoes and juice

1/2 cup tomato paste (about 1 can)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and place face down on pan. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Once squash is done, allow to cool and run a fork through the squash to make “spaghetti.” Place in the fridge to cool for a few hours (this prevents lasagna from becoming watery!)

Meanwhile, bring all marinara ingredients together in a pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Combine ricotta cheese and egg in a bowl. Set aside.

Once cooled, pack a THIN layer of spaghetti squash to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Press a paper towel over top to remove excess water.Top squash with half of the ricotta and spread. Top with 3/4 cup mozzarella. Top with half of cut-up sausage. Top with half of marinara sauce. Repeat all layers. Once you get to the sauce again, top with the remaining 3/4 cup of mozzarella.

Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes (or until cheese on top is melted). Let cool for 20 minutes before eating for lasagna to set.

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Red Pepper Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

I’m finally feeling a huge sense of relief. Yesterday I finished up with my summer classes AND took my Praxis II test. Now I know a bunch of math, science, social studies, and english stuff that I’m ready to forget! 

Just kidding… 

kind of…

And now that I don’t have any homework or studying for the next month, I have time to experiment in the kitchen! Already I’ve made several things that I’ve been inching to try. The first being:

Red Pepper Sauce over Spaghetti Squash 

Ingredients: 

1 large spaghetti squash 

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 onion, chopped 

3 garlic gloves, minced 

1 tsp dried rosemary 

1/2 cup chicken broth 

4 oz goat cheese 

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 

1/2 cup plain, whole milk yogurt 

1 cup roasted red peppers (from a jar) 

4 cups fresh spinach 

1/2 cup black olives, drained, rinsed, and roughly chopped 

salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions: 

Cut squash in half and remove its seeds. Place face-down on an aluminum foiled-pan and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Afterwards, allow to cool and then run a fork over insides, pulling up spaghetti-like strands of squash. Place strands in a large bowl and set aside. 

Heat olive oil over low heat in a deep skillet. Add in and sauté onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Sprinkle in rosemary and cook for 1 minute before adding chicken broth and cheeses. Stir until cheeses have melted. Turn off heat, add in yogurt and peppers, and blend ingredients with an immersion blender (You could also temporarily transfer the ingredients to a food processor/blender!) until sauce is a light red color. Turn heat back on and add in spinach. Cover with a lid and allow spinach to wilt, stirring every so often. Add in olives, salt and pepper. Pour over spaghetti squash and stir to combine. 

Ham and White Bean Spaghetti Squash Casserole

On Thursday, I went to my first ever zombie run at the university I’m attending this fall.

Not only was it the first time I was chased by zombies, but it was also my first race. I ended up being a “survivor” (a runner that the zombies try to catch and steal a flag from). Survivors are released about 20 seconds before the “zombies” and have to make it to the end of the race without “zombies” catching up to them.

And guess what?

I made it to the end with my flag still attached!

I guess I’m a sucky friend though- I abandoned my friends right after we were “released” to get as much distance between myself and the zombies (to be honest, I also thought that if I got ahead of some survivors early on, the zombies would go for their flags first).

Yup, I’m a bad friend.

Especially cause they were both “killed off.” It makes me wonder, would I be that human everyone would hate if I was on The Walking Dead?

Funny thing is, I don’t know how I wasn’t caught. I’m a spinner, but no runner.

Maybe it was the fact that I felt that my life was at stake cause some of the “zombies” looked like football players off the varsity team and very capable of tackling me to the ground for my flag.

I dunno, but I ran hard.

Granted, it was only a 1.3 mile race. And I know, all the running fanatics are rolling their eyes at this right now, but hey, that’s a lot for a newbie. Especially in a 97 degree heat wave.

Now, to the food.

A few weeks ago, I was at the grocery store and saw organic spaghetti squashes. I haven’t seen spaghetti squash, let alone organic ones, in awhile, so I was quick to buy the largest one there 🙂 Since this squash ended up being ridiculously expensive (something I really should have foreseen), I wanted to do something special with it instead of just serving it with meatballs and sauce.

The end result: a casserole!

I was especially excited to get the chance to finally use my mom’s fresh herbs (although, I have to say, it is annoying cutting up small leaves).

The verdict? Definitely worth the splurge!

Ham and White Bean Spaghetti Squash Casserole 

Ingredients:

1 5oz spaghetti squash

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh basil

1 tbsp fresh parsley

1/2 tbsp dried thyme

1 and 1/2 cups precooked organic ham, cubed

1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained

2 tomatoes, diced

4 cups fresh spinach

1 cup mozzarella cheese + extra for topping (topping is optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Pierce spaghetti squash with a knife several times. Place in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Let cool, about 20 minutes, before cutting open. With a fork, scape and place “spaghetti” into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Spray a large baking dish with cooking oil. Heat olive oil in deep skillet over medium heat. Add in onion, garlic, basil, parsley, and thyme. Cook for 7 minutes. Add in ham and beans. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes and spinach and cook until spinach has wilted (it may help to add the spinach a little at a time so you don’t have an overflow). Add mixture to mixing bowl. Add in 1 cup cheese, salt, and pepper and mix altogether. Spread in baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. If desired, sprinkle more cheese on top and place back in oven until melted.