Thursday, October 6, 2011

not really spaghetti and meatballs..

I LOVE FALL!!! Everyone should know this by now so I'll leave it at that. Except to say that Fall = squash...lot's and lot's of squash. All shapes and sizes and varieties and colors..yum. One of my all time favorite squashes to cook with is spaghetti squash. It's really amazing. The squash itself is a bright and fresh yellow in color and oblong in shape. There are many ways to cook it, but my personal favorite is roasting in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil and some spices. The easy way? Poke some holes in it and pop it in the microwave for 8-12 minutes depending on the size...cake.

For this recipe I roasted the squash as stated above and sauteed some lentils with the same spices, garlic, onions, tomatoes, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and some vegetable broth to create a pseudo, vegan "spaghetti and meatballs." Enjoy!

Not Really Spaghetti and Meatballs
(serves 2)

Spaghetti Squash

  • 1 medium spaghetti squash
  • about 2 TBS. olive oil
  • about 3-4 tsp. total of rosemary, oregano, thyme
  • 1 clove garlic finely chopped
Lentil Meatball Sauce
  • 1/2 cup cooked lentils
  • 1 large tomato chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 3-4 tsp. total of rosemary, oregano, thyme
  • 1 TBS. nutritional yeast
  • 1 cup vegetable broth (or whatever both you have if you are of the meat eating family)
Preheat oven to 425F.

Poke a couple of holes in the skin of the squash with a fork and microwave for about 2 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the squash in half and scrape out the pulp only (this is the part in the very middle with seeds). Place squash halves on a foil lined baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle spices and chopped garlic over the two halves. Place in oven and bake at 425F for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile...

Place a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Drizzle some olive oil in the pan to keep food from sticking. Put chopped garlic in the pan and saute until golden brown. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add tomatoes, lentils, nutritional yeast, vegetable broth, and spices. Saute until tomatoes start to become soft and juicy - the whole mixture will stick together, kind of like a meat sauce. Remove from heat when done. 

When squash is done cooking, remove from oven. It will be extremely hot so wait a couple of minutes before scooping out the flesh. When slightly cooled (enough to handle) scrape out the stringy flesh with a fork onto plates. Top with lentil 'meat' sauce and Parmesan or vegan cheese of choice. Serve hot, preferably with a glass of vino... Mangia Mangia!

pictures to come 



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