Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Sausage

Remember the low carb diet hysteria?  When the grains that were the basis of civilization became banned substances?  I fell just as hard as the majority of people — somehow always looking for the miraculous fix to that pesky problem of eating too much.  We all eliminated carbohydrates from our diet and commenced eating large quantities of meat, cheese, cream, nuts, and vegetables (the one upside).  Our days were filled with eggs and bacon and our nights were filled with steak dinners and creamed spinach.  And then we started losing weight. Weird how that happened.

I guess the point was that we were eating too much.  And eliminating an entire class of foods from your diet has a way of working in the short term.  Beyond, it is true that you cannot eat as much cheese when you don’t have crackers and you can’t eat as much sauce when you don’t have potatoes or rice to soak it all up.  But there came a point where I could work around anything.  Mashed potatoes were replaced with mashed cauliflower or turnips (with copious amounts of cream and butter).  Desserts had crusts made of crushed nuts and butter, rather than pastry or graham crackers.  And vodka and club soda replaced wine or beer.  Please don’t ask me about the time I made crackers OUT OF CHEESE to SERVE WITH CHEESE.

At some point, you think to yourself that maybe this whole eating plan is about as balanced as Rush Limbaugh riding an elephant side saddle.  But I guess every time you embark on one of these diets, you learn something, don’t you?  I think there were lessons to learn about eating more vegetables and cutting way back on sugar and refined carbohydrates.  Those concepts had merit.

(The cabbage soup diet, however, taught me that it fucking sucks to eat cabbage soup for every meal.)

I much prefer our balanced, seasonal, local, and whole foods approach to eating now.  I never really think about diets any more.  Maybe I think that I need to cut back, or that I overindulged, or that we have eaten out too much recently — but I rarely consider eliminating entire food groups (Unless you consider tequila a food group.  And even then, that never lasts that long.)

However, one thing that has remained with us long since Dr. Atkins has left is spaghetti squash.  If you haven’t had it, you should give it a try.  Once cooked, you fluff it with a fork and it separates into strands of “spaghetti.”  It is wonderful just roasted in the oven and served with a bit of butter and garlic.  My kids really enjoy it and it is not heavy or rich at all (like acorn or butternut squashes).  It is neutral in flavor and takes on any sort of sauce.  In this recipe, I baked it and then stuffed it with a homemade tomato and sausage mixture — which was really delicious.  And just to prove to you that I’m over the low carb days, I think it should be served with a big, ridiculously thick piece of garlic bread.

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Sausage

Serves 6

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. ground pork, or loose pork sausage (can remove it from casings if that is how you have it)
15 Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or about 4-5 cups)
Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Pepper
Olive Oil
1 t dried fennel seeds
1 t dried oregano (or Italian Seasoning)
Red pepper flakes
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse spaghetti squash and dry thoroughly.  With a sharp chef’s knife, remove stem end.  Split squash in half lengthwise.  (Being very careful that the squash doesn’t roll out from under you — I like to poke my knife in and then bang on the knife a bit to cut it further.  Then remove and repeat until the squash is split in half.)  Using a spoon, scrape squash seeds out and discard.  Drizzle squash halves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place halves cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes until tender.  (Poke a sharp knife in the skin and it should go in without resistance.)

2.  While squash is baking, in a large saute pan, heat a bit of olive oil.  Cook loose pork sausage until browned.  Season the sausage with 1 t salt, pepper, fennel, oregano, and red pepper flakes (to taste).

3.  Add in chopped peppers, garlic, and onion.  Saute until softened, about 5-7 minutes.  Add in chopped tomatoes and simmer sauce for about 30 minutes.  Taste and season as needed.  Set aside until squash is done.

4.  When squash is tender, remove from oven and turn halves right side up.  Using a fork, scrape the squashes in order to fluff up the strands of squash.  Place two cups of the tomato/sausage sauce on each half, cover with grated parmesan cheese, and return to 400 degree oven for about ten minutes. You can broil the halves for a minute or two if you like the parmesan browned.