Tag: spaghetti

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is quickly becoming one of my favorite vegetables! It’s delicious, healthy, and can be used anywhere you would use pasta! The best part is it has only 40 calories and 8 grams of carbs per cup, verses traditional pasta that has 200 calories and 40 grams of carbs per cup! You can be bake, boil, sauté, or even microwave, regardless of which way you choose to prepare, it’s very simple to prepare! Spaghetti squash comes out in strands just as the name indicates “spaghetti.”  Allow your mind to flow and sauté veggies such as onion, zucchini, and spinach and add it to the dish any colorful veggie would make for an eye catching dish.  You could also top it with your favorite meat sauce!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
  • Olive oil or truffle oil (used in this recipe)
  • Salt & Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet, I prefer to use stoneware for baking, but any bake pan will work.

Scoop the seeds out of the center of the squash and discard.  Drizzle the squash (cut side up) with olive or truffle oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place spaghetti squash cut sides up on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30-45 minutes until a sharp knife or fork can be inserted with only a little resistance.  Remove squash from oven and set aside allowing it to cool enough to be easily handled.

Spaghetti Squash (4)

Using a fork begin scraping the squash out and placing into a bowl.  Top with your desired vegetables, cheese, or meat sauce, and serve warm.

Spaghetti Squash (1)

Tasty Toppings:

Here I topped the squash with left over meat Sauce.

Squash

In this version I used ground Italian sausage and sprinkled freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

Penne and Sausage (5)

Quick Penne and Sausage

I was searching for a quick weeknight meal and decided to make a quick and tasty pasta dish.  You can use any pasta you have on hand but because sausage can be a bit heavy, I opted for penne.  I cook pasta on a regular basis, it’s quick and delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb penne pasta (cook as directed on box)
  • 1 lb Italian sausage
  • 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1-2 tbsp red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your preference of heat)
  • 2 shallots (chopped)
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped shallots, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook until the shallots are somewhat translucent (without burning the garlic).  Add the sausage and crumble; add in the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and oregano.  Sausage is usually well flavored, but feel free to add as much flavor as you’d like.  Cook the sausage until done about 10-15 minutes.

Penne and sausage Base (2)

Penne and sausage Base (3)

Bring water to boil in large pot, add kosher salt (use a decent amount, this is the only time to flavor pasta).  Drain your pasta (reserve 1 cup of pasta water) once al dente and mix into the sausage mixture.  Toss everything together and add half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano mix.  You may need to add ¼ cup of the pasta water to loosen everything as well as more olive oil. Once ready plate and finish off with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Penne and Sausage (2)

I had left over spaghetti squash, so I separated a bit of the sausage mix and had a healthier low-carb version!

Penne and Sausage (5)