I have been trying to get my family to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat, cookies, and candy.  Now, that it is the holiday season getting them to eat less candy and cookies is almost impossible but I am giving them more fruits and vegetables.  I bought 2 small spaghetti squashes thinking I may introduce a meatless meal at least once a week to start with and maybe work up from there.

I Googled spaghetti squash and got tons of helpful hints.  This recipe is a blending of several recipes I found.

Verdict:

I was so excited about this dish.  I have been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables.  As some of you may know I HATE vegetables but as a mom I can’t say that and I am slowly beginning to expand my palate and trying to eat them all, except mushrooms.  I don’t understand those at all, slimy little buggers.  Anyways, I put lots of cheese in this dish and sauce and I couldn’t wait for my family to try our first meatless meal.

The first thing my other half said was, “It would be better with some chicken.”  Then my son, “Yeah, it needs Italian sausage.”  Grumble, grumble, grumble.  That defeats the purpose of the meal.  I thought it was great.  My son at half of one of the halves and my daughter ate the other half.  They seemed to like once they got over the fact there was no meat in it.  But, the other half wanted nothing to do with it.

I served this dish with sliced carrots and a green side salad.

For my mostly gluten-free son this was great because I could make him the same meal.

Ingredients:

•  2 smallish spaghetti squashes
• olive oil
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella, shredded and divided
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce or homemade sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare your spaghetti squash by cutting the stem end off the squash, cutting it in half lengthwise and scooping out the seeds from the center.
3. Brush each half of the cut edges with a bit of olive oil.  Place the squash cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake in oven until soft and can easily be shredded with a fork approximately 25-30 minutes.
4. While squash is baking mix ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper.
5. Once squash is done remove it from the oven and using a fork fluff up some of the inside of each squash half. Take a paper towel and press out any extra moisture in the squash so that your shells don’t become too mushy.
6. Divide the ricotta mixture among the four halves spreading it out inside each shell.
7. Cover the ricotta with spaghetti sauce being careful not to overfill.
8. Divide the mozzarella cheese among the four remaining halves.
9. Return the squash to the oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is well melted and starting to brown.
10. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes before serving.