Tonight, I Conquered a Spaghetti Squash + Confession: the Pasta Incident

I have quite a kitchen tale to tell you this evening.

Tonight, I subdued a defiant spaghetti squash and created my first ever pasta sauce – completely Paleo and completely from scratch.

Let me once again say, I am not a chef. I didn’t really start cooking consistently until I started the Whole30, and the only reason I did was because it became a necessity. Turns out, I like it! I’m having fun creating recipes and experimenting with spices and new ingredients until the flavors are just right. I am a really, really, REALLY messy cook though. Seriously, I could never have a cooking show for that reason alone.

Since starting this blog and sharing the recipes I’m experimenting with, I’ve found that often people want to look at the recipes and sometimes try them for themselves. This can get tricky when I have been using cookbooks because I don’t want to plagiarize. So, I’m trying to make more recipes on my own. Usually they’re inspired by something I find in a cookbook or something I want to be able to eat but can’t unless I make it myself. Such was the case, tonight.

For two weeks, I’ve had a spaghetti squash staring me down in my kitchen. I originally bought it thinking I’d use it but honestly I was a bit intimidated. So, it continued to sit there. Quietly, pointedly, staring at me. Finally, yesterday I was inspired by a fan on my Facebook Page to make my own spaghetti with spaghetti squash. I committed and tonight I DID IT. The end result was magnificent but the road to getting there was a little challenging. See below for tips to help you successfully tackle your first spaghetti squash.

You would not believe how much “spaghetti” I was able to get from this squash. I heaping plate full that will be enough for 4-6 meals! It was crazy.

As a spaghetti squash novice, I really underestimated how difficult it would be to work with. Tips:

1. Do not show fear. This vegetable is particularly hard to cut into so don’t let it get the best of you by showing weakness.
2. Use a sharp knife and a sturdy surface when cutting the spaghetti squash in half.
3. Expect a lot of “spaghetti.” Once it was done baking, the stringy spaghetti just kept coming and coming and was really impressive. I’m going to have to think of other ways to eat this stuff …
4. Use sparingly as this will really fill you up and it’s easy to accidentally eat too much because it’s so good!

Now, before I can share my pasta recipe, I have to give a disclaimer/confession: I’ve been looking at tons of Paleo cookbooks and they use honey sometimes so I knew it was OK when eating Paleo. However, it’s NOT Whole30 approved. I mistakenly (major OOPS!) incorporated honey into my pasta sauce recipe this evening. (Now, it was DELICIOUS but please wait to eat it until you’ve finished the Whole30.) I want to give this disclaimer right away because I am very committed to no cheats on the Whole30. I’m on day 26 and I know I’ve seen my mind, body and emotional connection to food radically transform so I’m going to finish out my Whole30 and allow this mistake. There, disclaimer done.

Below is my recipe and I’ve also included links to the cookbooks where I got the recipes for the Sweet Potato Snackers and Chocolate Coconut Cookies I made this weekend.. Enjoy and please let me know if you try one of these recipes 🙂

Doesn’t it look delicious? It was so good!!

I Can’t Believe It’s Paleo Pasta Sauce with Spaghetti Squash
This magical, melt in your mouth combination was a result of my very first attempt at pasta sauce. I was really nervous but … it turned out so good I had to share the recipe! To keep the sauce Whole30 compliant, just omit the honey.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground beef
24 oz canned tomato sauce (with no sugar, cheap stuff is fine or you can use tomatoes from your garden)
1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 Cloves garlic
1 T Italian Seasoning
1 dried bay leaf
1 T Olive Oil
2 t honey (optional, omit for Whole30)

1 Spaghetti Squash
Salt & Pepper to

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees for the spaghetti squash. In a medium frying pan, saute onions in 1 T olive oil until tender. Add ground beef and brown. While your onions are sauteing, in a medium pot, combine tomato sauce, garlic, Italian Seasoning, honey (optional) and bay leaf. Stir in ingredients and let them come to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Once the liquid begins to boil, reduce to low heat and simmer 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Take the spaghetti squash and cut it in half. Scrape out the seeds and pumpkin-like insides. Add sea salt and ground pepper to each side and place facedown on a baking sheet. Put in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute. Take a fork and begin scraping the insides of the squash for spaghetti strings to appear. Scrape until just the hard shell is left. Add sauce and enjoy!
If you’re wondering about the recipes for these yummy dishes, I got them from Practical Paleo, which you can view here.

Both of these recipes are from the Practical Paleo cookbook, which you can purchase here.

~ Kate

P.S. My next post will be all about breakfast. I’ll share some quick and easy breakfast options that are great for the Whole30, Paleo and