Spaghetti Squash Bolognese Boats

Bolognese.  It's really just a meat sauce, but it sounds fancier and since that's what my pesky English husband calls it, that's what we're going with.  

It's an easy, satisfying, meaty and carb-free dinner.  From the way my husband and son were shoveling it in...I think it's a hit!  (Ok, a fair bit of shoveling was done on my part too. 

(This recipe serves two, and good news! You'll have lots of sauce left over when you're done!) 

What you'll need: 

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeds removed 

Coconut oil or olive oil spray 

2-3 tsp olive oil 

4 cloves garlic

1 small onion

1 large carrot

1 large celery stalk

2 tomatoes

1 large can of tomato puree, or crushed tomatoes

1 lb. ground turkey 

Garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning and fresh parsley and/or basil

Equipment you'll need:

A baking sheet lined with foil 

1 large skillet 

To start, preheat your oven to 400, cut the squash in half and scoop the seeds.  Place on your baking sheet face up, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and pepper.  Spray with coconut oil/olive oil cooking spray (or brush with olive oil) and bake at 400 for about 45 minutes. 

While the squash is cooking, peel and finely dice your carrots, celery, onions,tomatoes and garlic.  Heat your skillet to medium and add the oil.  Saute your veggies just until softened. 

Once your veggies are softened, add your ground turkey and a tsp each of garlic and onion powder, 1 tablespoon of italian seasoning.  Break up the meat with your spatula and combine all ingredients.  Once the meat is cooked through, add your tomato sauce.  (Drain liquid from the pan before you add the tomato puree.) 

Cover partially, and allow to simmer on low.  When the squash is ready, remove it from the oven and turn the oven to broil.  Starting from the outside in, pull the spaghetti squash strands with your fork to fluff up. Add your herbs to the sauce now. 

Pour about a cup of your Bolognese into the center of the squash.  Add your shredded mozzarella and place back in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and browned. 

Remove from the oven and serve your blurry spaghetti squash!  I served with some roasted asparagus, but a nice salad or some crusty bread would be wonderful. 

For the full recipe, look below and enjoy!!

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese Boats

(serves 2)

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeds removed 

Coconut oil or olive oil spray 

2-3 tsp olive oil 

4 cloves garlic

1 small onion

1 large carrot

1 large celery stalk

2 tomatoes

1 large can of tomato puree, or crushed tomatoes

1 lb. ground turkey 

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp Italian seasoning 

A few tbsp fresh parsley and/or basil

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (1 blue container per side)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Place your spaghetti squash cut side up on a baking sheet.  Spray with coconut oil spray or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 45 minutes. 

While the squash is cooking, peel and dice the vegetables.  Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add olive oil, then vegetables.  Saute for a few minutes, until softened.  Add ground turkey, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning.  Combine and break up with a spatula until the turkey is cooked through. 

Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.  Cover partially and allow to simmer. 

When the squash is done, remove from the oven and turn to broil. Fluff the strands with a fork working from the outside in.  Pour about a cup (or one purple container full) into the spaghetti squash and top with mozzarella cheese. Place back into the oven for a few minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and browned.  

Enjoy! 

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Tip: Use ground beef or chicken in place of the ground turkey. If you're a vegetarian you could try lentils! 

(21 Day Fixers- 1 squash boat is 1 green, 1 blue, 1/2 purple, 1 red.  If you have a larger squash, count 1.5 green). 

For a more detailed explanation- 

The break, BREAK down is this:  

1 large can of crushed tomato-2 purples. 
1 lb of ground turkey, 4 red. 
1 spaghetti squash (small)- 2 green. 
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese- 2 blue. 
 The rest of the chopped veggies (the carrots, onion, celery and tomato) equaled about 1-1.5 greens before cooking.  After cooking, about 3/4 green for the WHOLE pot of sauce, which I'm not counting (as it would come out to maybe 1/8 green per serving) 

The sauce yielded about 4 servings.  One of those servings went into each half squash.  The rest went into my fridge.