Baked Spaghetti... sort of ;o)

I just made the most delicious Baked Spaghetti.
... with NO PASTA!
Instead I broke the mold and used spaghetti squash.

It was my first attempt using spaghetti squash and honestly, I wasn't too hopeful that spaghetti squash would be a good substitute for pasta... but it is!

HOW TO COOK a SPAGHETTI SQUASH:
Pick out a hard, pale one.
Cut in 1/2 length-wise.
In a roasting pan (I used a cookie sheet), add 1 cup water.
Place squash face down in the pan.
Bake in 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.
Let cool enough to be able to handle.
Take a fork & shread the insides of the squash. It will pull away from the sides in shreds like thin spaghetti.
Now you can use it like pasta!



For my Baked Spaghetti, I made my favorite meat sauce (ground beef, onion, green pepper, garlic, oregano, basil, diced tomatoes, & tomato sauce). I tossed the sauce with the shredded spaghetti squash, and I basically made it like lasagna.

I layered the squash/sauce mixture with Ricotta mixture (Ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, 1 egg, salt, pepper) and mozzarella cheese.

OH YUM. I will definitely be using this low-carb substitute in many more dishes!