You know the feeling when you are looking for some specifically sized vegetable, but you find everything else except the exact thing you are looking for. When you make up your mind to find a few petite sized spaghetti squashes because you imagine to serve the darling little half globes as a Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano filled with your favorite Italian meat sauce and topped with gooey Parmesan cheese…well lets just dream on because there was no petite squash in sight. Yes we went to not just one store, but at least four stores where we know they have the best produce in town and we could only find large oversized squash. It seemed like the vegetable trolls were against us and were laughing about our sizable dilemma. In this case bigger squash is not better, unless you are very, very hungry.
As it happened to us on Friday morning, the day started with lovely Autumn like temperatures, and you have to agree our dear friends, is a call for celebration. Which meant that we can finally turn on the oven and bake something without melting the kitchen decor. The lovely crisp air evoked in us such a craving for fragrant oven roasted vegetables or baked pumpkin, that we immediately perused our fall recipes and thought that with spaghetti squash we could smoothly ease our way into the baking madness.
So once we made up our minds there was no turning back and so in just a little over an hour we dreamily feasted on our ridiculously delicious result “Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano.” It tasted wonderfully comforting, nothing could ruin our enjoyment even that we had to cut each bowl in half. This recipe came about when we had leftover meat sauce and we decided to put a healthy spin to our favorite dish “Spaghetti Bolognese.” We still occasionally indulge on whole wheat pasta but we could not resist trying the sauce this time with a delicious pasta replacement such as the nutty, sweet flavored spaghetti squash.
This pale yellow oblong globed winter squash reveals lovely flesh after baking that you can separate with a fork and fluff into spaghetti like strands. Perfect substitution for pasta lovers who have diabetes, need to eat Gluten-Free, or wish to live a healthier low-carb life. Be adventurous and do try one if you have not already. It also makes a cute dish for Halloween night since it looks like a little spooky pumpkin.
If you are in the hurry you could cook your spaghetti squash in the microwave (we did it too a few times) however we love the sweet caramelized flavor when baked in the oven. We like to bake the squash upside down because the flesh caramelizes deeper. Feel free to bake an extra spaghetti squash we know you will love it.
The last time when we made this lovely stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano we had a friend over who said he would only eat the meat sauce over real pasta and for sure not in a squash bowl. We told him he can have a glass of wine if he will try a little of our Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano. With a wine glass in hand he watched very carefully what we were putting into the sauce pot and oven, and pretty much said it that he does not like any kind of squash but will stay if we pour him another glass of wine and then will even try it. So much for our friends resolution no to have squash! He ended up liking the spaghetti squash so much that he even enjoyed a second helping of it. He said “what a delicious dish” and kept repeating “who would have thought, squash could taste so good.” Now you see how a good wine can make everything taste better!
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano is so easy to prepare and beside being healthy it is much faster to make then you think. For us this is what simple cooking and enjoying traditional flavors with healthy alternative is all about. We can’t even describe how satisfying the flavors are in this lovely Italian dish served in its own edible bowl (just don’t eat the shale). From the warm Parmesan cheese topping and the very tasty spicy tomato – meat sauce to the nutty butternut squash, it is so cozy and comforting just like a large warm wool shall.
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano
Ingredients
- 2 small or 1 large Spaghetti Squash - halved lengthwise and seeded
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- pinch of Himalayan Salt
- 1 small Yellow Onion - finely chopped
- 2 clove Garlic - minced
- 1 pound Italian Chicken Sausage - casings removed
- 1/4 cup Italian red Wine like Sangiovese Chianti
- 1 1/2 cups Tomato or Marinara Sauce
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan Salt
- Black Pepper to taste
- Good pinch of Pepper Flakes
- 1 tsp dried Oregano
- 1 tsp dried or 4 fresh Basil leaves
- 4 Vine Ripe Tomatoes - cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh Parsley - chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
- Wash squash and pat it dry. Place it on a Cutting board, and with a sharp large knife cut lengthwise. With a spoon remove seeds. Brush flesh with a little olive oil ( about 1/4 Tbsp) and sprinkle with Himalayan salt.
- Bake squash halves cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. With a fork scrape and fluff the flesh into spaghetti like strands.
For the Tomato Meat Sauce
- In the meantime heat the rest of the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic and sautee for a few minutes until onions become translucent.
- Add the sausage and with the wooden spoon break up the meat into small pieces and cook for 10 minutes
- Pour in the wine and tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper, pepper flakes, oregano, basil and stir well. Continue to simmer for 15 more minutes.
- Place the squash halves onto a parchment paper lined baking tray or in a fireproof glass dish and spoon meat filling evenly into the shells. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. To serve sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Diet: Gluten-Free, Diabetic Friendly, Low-carb
Glamorous Pairing: 2012 Rusack Sangiovese – from the hillsides of Santa Barbara County’s Ballard Canyon vineyard. Smooth well balanced wine, with lovely berry and spice aromas. Ripe fruit flavors of plum, raspberries and dark cocoa make you wish to asking for more. Sangiovese is the main grape in Italy’s Chianti region and if you can find a nice bottle of Chianti it would be a delicious pairing with the Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano too.
That looks incredibly good! I know what you mean by baking them too-the caramelisation is so good! Love the new design too 😀
Thank you Lorraine, we are glad you like the recipe and design! Yes, we love the caramelized flavors you get from baking the squash and even made this Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano again today topped with a tomato sauce and meatballs. It was a very rare cold rainy day just right for a warm comforting dish.
Wonderful new blog layout, Girls! Love it! I also love what you’ve done with this squash. Every time I see a recipe with this sexy vegetable I’m impressed and wish I could get it over here in the UK. I’m sure I could somewhere, but I don’t think it’s available in any supermarket. It’s so clever that you’ve left the flesh in the veggie ‘bowl’ and treated it like regular spaghetti with those beautiful traditional toppings. 🙂
Thank you Helen, we are happy you like the new design! We have been in a squash mood lately and have been cooking with so many different varieties. Hopefully you will find spaghetti squash someplace in a local store in the UK too or we may need to take it in our carry-on luggage on our next trip to Europe and send it to you…. 😉
I have to try this Spaghetti Squash and it looks so good. I usually just get butternut and overlook this type of squash since I haven’t really cooked with it before. Thanks for the inspiration and the gorgeous photos.
It is really a unique squash with a spaghetti like strands that make a great pasta alternative.
Spaghetti squash is definitely one of my favourites but I can honestly say that I’ve never seen the really small ones, they would make a beautiful serving at a dinner party. I love the Italian flavours you’ve combined in this beautiful fall dish.
We are glad you liked the flavors! We did find much smaller ones the next day, when we were looking for large ones, that were about the size of a grapefruit.
That is so pretty to look at. All your photos make me want to head back to the camera and practice practice practice.
I’m going to look for some smaller squash and give this a try.
Thank you Maureen! We hope you found the the just right sized spaghetti squash and got to enjoy it.
I love all your photos in this post, it makes me crave spaghetti squash badly, like I may have to run in the middle of the night to the store and get one!
Hope the store was open for a midnight Spaghetti Squash run! We just got another one too.
Oh! I love how you presented this stuffed spaghetti squash…what a beautiful presentation…and yes, they look delicious!
Have a great week 🙂
Thank you Juliana, we were worried the spaghetti squash was too large, but it turned out tasty and we did not have much leftover.
I’ve seen spaghetti squash in the stores but not bought it. I know of a lot of bloggers who have used it to make ‘spaghetti’ and they all say how good it is. I have not seen the spaghetti served in the squash before so this is lovely and I think the presentation is gorgeous xx
Thank you Hotly Spiced! We love serving the spaghetti squash in the shell since we want to make sure not to miss any bite of this tender squash and it looks more festive, especially near Halloween and Thanksgiving.
This looks so good I want to take a big bite right now! Getting the Italian dinner experience with out all the carbs is great.
Spaghetti squash is a nice alternative to regular pasta and has lots of fiber.
This sounds delightful. Spaghetti squash is like an undiscovered treasure to me, there’s so much you can do with it. And it’s funny, I was looking for big spaghetti squash and all I could find were little ones. 🙂
You are right Chris, spaghetti squash is a treasure! The next week we went to the store looking for big squash and they just had smaller ones.
We love spaghetti squash with meat sauce. I really like the idea of putting the squash back into the shell and baking it…it makes a nice presentation.
Glad you like the presentation Karen, we enjoyed the harmony of flavors with the meat sauce as well.
It often happens to me that when I head to the grocery store I can not find the particular thing that I want, and then the next week when I go and don’t need it anymore – there it is in front of me! Murphy’s law, I guess.
Looks like you made do with these bigger squash though! And they look great.
Thanks Joanne, we didn’t mind having more to enjoy! It is quite funny since this week we found only small spaghetti squash at the store.
This looks fantastic! I love spaghetti sqaush and it sounds amazing with all that flavorful stuffing. I can’t wait to try this!
We are glad you like it Kelly and hope you get to try it soon. The best thing about the spaghetti squash is that is has so much good fiber and Vitamin C plus it is very tasty.
Pretty and so fancy looking! It looks great on a table with guests! I love it!
You can get smaller spaghetti squash Kristi so that everyone can have their very own squash bowl.
How cute is this! Your stuffed spaghetti squash looks like it would be so much fun to serve on Halloween or any time for that matter.
Hi Samantha, yes they do look like spooky little pumpkins and are a nice comforting and filling meal.
I love the tip about roasting it upside down. With this recipe, you’ve got all the bases covered. I love the idea of stuffing it with such rich and delicious italian flavors.
Thank you and the flavors were quiet amazing, Angela! We had a hard time not to eat it the freshly roasted spaghetti squash, it was so sweet and nutty, just delicious.
Beautiful photos, Jusit and Corina! Thank you for this delicious inspiration it will be just the perfect dish to make for my weekend progressive dinner.
Thank you Maria! Hope you will enjoy the recipe, it looks impressive with such a little prep time.Also you can make it a day ahead. Have a wonderful dinner 🙂
That looks fantastic!! It is a dish that is new to me and it has tempted me so much.
Thank you Taruna! We can’t wait to make a vegetarian version, filled with beans, tomatoes, peppers and other tasty veggies 🙂
Haha! I know exactly what you are talking about! For the longest time we had cute, small spaghetti squashes and just when I finally got around to photographing my stuffed squashes, I could only find gargantuan ones! Yours look perfect! Your filling looks so delicious, I am sure I wouldn’t fight you if you put a large one in front of me!!!
The same happened to us 2 years ago when we first made this recipe. We tried to find nice small once with perfect skin and we could only find large once with weathered skin. Now you will get a good laugh, yesterday we planed to make spaghetti squash salad and so a large one would have been perfectly fine, but in the store basket there were the prettiest little pale yellow globes we could ever find. 🙂
Spaghetti squash is such a cool idea, I love how delicious it looks all compacted and flavour concentrated 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you Uru! We love it so much that we could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Cheers,
J+C
What a neat way to serve spaghetti squash and I love the idea of an alternative to pasta so that I can have more variety. The tomato sauce looks so divine too and great for a weekday dinner.
The best part is besides that spaghetti squash is really healthy and low carb, the flesh takes marvelously to any flavor. We can’t wait to bake our 2 new once.
It is 7.30am here and I could devour this dish right now for breakfast it looks so good! Not with the wine pairing of course 😉
Ha ha Tandy, you right perhaps 7:30am is a little to early for the wine, but we are with you we could happily eat it for breakfast too 🙂
Spaghetti squash is one of my favorite types of squash and I love that you stuffed it with all of the good stuff! I never usually get creative with it, but I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hope you can try it soon, Ashley! Yesterday we picked up 2 petite spaghetti squash and planning to make a vegetarian version soon.
I love spaghetti squash and this recipe is perfect! Pinned!
Thank you so much Mira, and hope you will try this simple spaghetti squash recipe soon.
Looks ‘loverly’ as Liza Doolittle would say. I agree that cooking the squash by baking really does caramelize it in comparison to the microwave. Microwaving the squash is only for time crunch time in my book. Would make a fun dish for a little homey get together.
We try not to use the microwave at all, but alas sometime there is just not enough hours in a day. A “little homey get together” sounds good specially wit a comforting a “loverly” (l Thank you Carol, love this word) dish what is easy to prepare.
This looks delicious! I often make an Italian spaghetti squash bake, but next time I’m going to put it back in the spaghetti squash for serving! It’s such a cute idea.
Hello Amy, the spaghetti squash takes on a lot more flavor if you bake and serve it in the shell. Enjoy 🙂
I absolutely love spaghetti squash, and have one in my pantry right now. This needs to happen very soon! It looks so delicious and comforting. 🙂
We are adore it so much that we could eat it almost every day. It is so hard to resist not to eat it right out of the shell when you take it out the oven and the warm sweet aromas tickling your nose.
this looks like great comfort food 🙂 Thanks for sharing! I would love to make a vegetarian version of this!
Thank you Manali! The vegetarian version sounds delicious and we did make it before. We filled the globes with a black bean & quinoa chili like sauce instead of a meat sauce. (oh yes we have to post that recipe soon too)
J+C
I love the idea of making spaghetti squash! It’s something that I’ve always wanted to try, but just haven’t gotten around to doing. This dish looks incredible! Thanks so much for the helpful tip.s Love the chicken in here, too. Pinned!
Thank you kindly for the Pin, Gayle! Hope you get to try spaghetti squash soon, you will be not disappointed. If you prefer you can bake it as a whole and cut open later, we found that baking in halves with cut sides down taste even more sweeter.
J+C
Love this low carb version of one of my favorite Italian dishes. Great way to serve it for company.
Thank you 🙂
Thank you Livia, and you will love how easy it is to make this squash bowls look impressive!
J+C
What a healthy way to enjoy a nice meal. Your beautiful photos look very inspirational.
Bon Appetit
Thank you Terry! Hope you get the chance to try this really healthy and flavorful dish 🙂
J+C
This Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Italiano looks so fun and tasty. I think it is a nice treat for Halloween too and I am now thinking to make it for a few friends. They really like red wine and usually bring a bottle so it will go very well with the dinner.
Your plan to serve it for Halloween, sounds terrific, Marcella! It is a flavorful dish and pairs deliciously with a nice bottle of Italian red wine. Enjoy:)
I need to get myself a spaghetti squash to make this too. It looks so comforting and delicious.
It is comforting and so easy to prepare! Hope you will give it a try, Angie!
I’ve used spaghetti squash in place of pasta, but the lovely way you served yours is an inspiration! It would be great fun for company!
We love to serve it in the squash bowl, specially to guests and the quick clean up after the dinner is an added bonus. Enjoy your fall weather 🙂
been a while but have enjoyed Spaghetti Squash a few times. But making the dish in the squash like this is brilliant and gorgeous!
Thank you Evelyne, and hope you get to try it soon! We can’t wait to make it again perhaps with some gruyere cheese 🙂
I’m trying to eat low carb when I can, and this looks SO GOOD! I have to try this very soon. I like that you baked at the end. The gooey cheese and everything will come together and use the squash as a bowl. Brilliant! 😀 Now I’m hungry….
Thank you Nami, and we could never imagine that eating low carb would be so delicious! You can also prepare ahead and bake it for the lovely gooeyness just before serving. We love dishes that taste even better if prepared in steps.
J+C