Recipe of the Week – Spaghetti Squash Primavera

Continuing on my quest of eating more vegetables in January, but quickly tiring of just eating a bowl of roasted vegetables every night for dinner, I decided to try this spaghetti squash recipe and make it my own! This is not a quick weeknight recipe (the squash takes an hour to roast) but it makes a ton which is great for a big family or for having a lot of leftovers. Even I liked these leftovers and didn’t mind eating spaghetti squash more than once in a week. I made this recipe vegetarian, but it would be great with chicken sausage or ground turkey. You can also add whatever vegetables you like and leave out the ones you don’t! I love to find recipes that are easy to substitute ingredients and make how you like it  – let me know if you have a recipe that needs revamping, I’d love to help you find easy substitutions!

Ingredients

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1 Shallot, diced
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1/2 cup Celery, diced
• 1/2 cup Carrot, diced
• 1/2 Green Pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup Zuchini, diced
• 1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cups Marinara Sauce

First, I cut the spaghetti squash in half (no easy feat!), scooped out the seeds and put it in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. Pro Tip – On the Food Network, I saw one of the chefs poke holes in a spaghetti squash with a fork and then microwave it for 5 minutes. This is supposedly to help soften the rind and make cutting it easier….I wasn’t convinced. It was still hard.

While the squash was baking, I started on the primavera sauce. First up, chopping the vegetables.

Next, I sauteed the celery, onion, carrot and shallot for about 5 minutes, until they were partially cooked.

Then, I added the garlic and the remaining vegetables and sauteed everything together for another 5-7 minutes, until everything was cooked through.

Last, I added in the marinara sauce and let everything simmer together for a few minutes.

Once the primavera sauce was ready, I checked on the squash. Since I didn’t cut the squash in half evenly (It was really hard! Even with my Food Network tip) one half finished baking way sooner than the other half. I ended up just leaving the bigger half in a warm oven to finish cooking because I had to leave for work.

When the spaghetti squash was cooked, I shredded it with a fork to create strands. Kind of like spaghetti noodles, hence the “spaghetti” squash!

Then, it was time to eat! I piled about a cup and a half of spaghetti squash with about 3/4 cup of primavera sauce on top.

This recipe was delicious, filling, and I didn’t miss regular noodles at all! The spaghetti squash added a more creamy texture to the primavera sauce and it was a perfect warm dish for the cold evenings we’ve been having. Have you tried spaghetti squash? What are your favorite recipes? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Cooking!