Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

July 11, 2012

My brain has been somewhere else. The fact that it is Wednesday just blows my mind. Honestly though, it could just be my mind denying that summer is coming to an end. With that said I came across a Farmer's Market that sold spaghetti squash a few weeks back. I had no clue you could get it this time of year. I typically can only find two in the entire month of December. So this was a nice surprise.

With spaghetti squash in hand I knew there was only one dish I was going to make, Lasagna. Replacing the pasta in Lasagna with Spaghetti Squash is about the most satisfying healthy sub. I love pasta so anything that can give me that same feeling makes this girl very happy. I could eat pasta at every meal, my waistline disagrees though. So enjoy this healthy low carb take on Lasagna without the guilt regular white pasta.

Ingredients:
1 large or 2 small spaghetti squash
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (or make your own, Jeremy loves Prego)
1 small container of ricotta cheese (our grocery store always has 2 sizes I just take the smaller)
1 medium onion
1lb of ground turkey or beef
1 1/2c shredded Italian cheese blend
Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Poke several holes in the spaghetti squash and place in the microwave for 12 minutes. Allow squash to sit and steam for an additional 5 minutes. (I've tried several methods and this one for cooking spaghetti squash works the easiest.)

While the squash is cooking dice the onion and saute until translucent. Add ground meat when onions are almost done and cook meat and onions together until meat is browned. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste. Add marinara sauce and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Preheat to 375. Slice squash at the equator and spoon out the seeds. Using a fork scrape the inside allowing pulling out the strands of squash until only the skin is left.

To assemble the lasagna pour about 1/2 c of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread evenly. Evenly spread out 1/2 of the squash and top with 1/2 of the remaining sauce. Top with 1/2 of the ricotta and 1/2 c of shredded cheese/ Next layer the other half of the squash, remaining sauce, ricotta, and shredded cheese. Place in the 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes until bubbly and browned.

**My oven was taking forever to brown the cheese so I turned it to broil for the last two minutes and watched it.