Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

I am so excited to share this Stuffed Spaghetti Squash recipe with you. I was planning on waiting until next week, but it ended up being so much more delicious than I could have ever imagined so I just can’t wait!

Here’s the backstory on how this recipe came to be: My husband and I were watching a repeat episode of Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives the other night. One of the recipes they were featuring was a Spaghetti Squash Primavera. It was all these vegetables sautéed and then stuffed into a spaghetti squash, topped with fresh mozzarella. I immediately told my husband to hit record so I wouldn’t forget about it.

Fast forward to this week. I get all my ingredients together and my original thought is “Wow, this is going to be perfect to post for next week’s #MeatlessMonday”. I do like to post a vegetarian recipe every now and then for the vegetarians in my life. But then….. I ran into the grocery store again today to grab a gallon of milk (those kids drink so much darn milk) and the dark side took over. As I walked passed the meat department, a pound of ground sausage spoke to me! Well, not literally. But instead of making this a nice healthy vegetarian meal, I decided it would be much better with sausage in the mix. A good old fashioned comfort food! Now I know, it seems with the warmer weather coming I would be staying away from heavy dishes like this, but it was a rainy day today, so it worked out perfectly!

There is a bit of prep work involved, but nothing difficult. Just a lot of chopping etc. As a matter of fact, in an effort to save time you can brown the sausage earlier in the day while the kids are at school or occupied and also cook the veggies ahead too. When it gets closer to dinner time you can just assemble and bake. If you are feeling like making it totally homemade, skip the jarred sauce and make a batch of My Favorite Marinara to use.

Now if you want to make this vegetarian, just omit the sausage. I bet it’s just as good. Okay, I don’t think JUST as good, but I bet it’s almost as good! Of course sausage makes everything a little bit better, doesn’t it?

Make sure you use fresh mozzarella on this, not the shredded mozzarella. I know it’s a little more costly, but it’s worth it. I mean, look how ooey gooey delicious that cheese looks in these pictures!

This recipe has been adapted from Tony’s Spaghetti Squash Primavera at The Pit Stop Restaurant.

Ingredients

• 2 spaghetti squash
• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 3 shallots, sliced
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 2 C jarred marinara or My Favorite Marinara
• 16 oz fresh mozzarella
• 1/4 C parsley, freshly chopped
• 3 basil leaves, torn

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly coat the skin of the spaghetti squash with 1 T olive oil. Place on a baking sheet (whole) and cook 1-1 1/2 hours depending on the size. When skin can be pierced easily they're done. Set aside to cool.
3. While squash is roasting, heat 1 T olive oil in a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and shallot, cook until just softening (about 4 min). Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add zucchini, celery, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are just about soft, stirring occasionally. Put cooked veggie mix in large bowl.
4. Return skillet to medium heat and add sausage pan. Brown sausage. Drain if necessary. Add sausage to bowl with vegetables.
5. When spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle cut in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (using a spoon is easiest). Scoop "spaghetti" strands into the same bowl as the sausage and vegetables. Keep the squash shell intact.
6. Add 2 C marinara to bowl and stir well to combine.
7. Spoon mixture into squash shells and top with thick slices of mozzarella.
8. Return to the oven and bake 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.
9. Top each squash with parsley and basil.

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