The other day I had one of those days where I couldn't care less about dinner. Sometimes you just have those days where you get tired of having everybody else depend on you to feed them. And because I had been in Philly over the weekend, I had missed my big grocery shopping/prepping/cooking day, so I had nothing ready to go. D'oh!
I decided to do a quick dinner. Spaghetti and red sauce.
SPAGHETTI SQUASH:
I cut the squash, length-wise, scooped out the seeds, and then placed it (face down) on a jelly roll pan. I put water in the pan to help with steaming the "noodles" and prevent them from being crunchy. Word to the wise: Do NOT put in more than 1-2 tbls of water. (I used about 1-2 inches without thinking) and it came out much too watery. The squash seemed to absorb most of the water, so the squash came out too mushy and even after trying to ring out the water, it was still too watery (see photo below) by the time I served it.
The tomato sauce was fairly good... rich and flavorful (incidentally, this is a sauce I've used for pizza).
TOMATO SAUCE:
One 12oz can of Tomato Paste
16-24 oz water (depending on how thick you like your sauce)
1 Tbls minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
(all spices to taste)
You can add a bit of honey to sweeten if you like (I did not).
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to boil, then let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
The kids ate it, which is what's important, and I definitely learned to watch what I'm doing when cooking.
If you have a good "pasta" dish you enjoy, please share!
Interesting. I've done this before when I looked in the fridge and realized I had absolutely nothing defrosted. Ground beef is the only thing I don't mind defrosting in the microwave. I don't have kids to feed, but I still have to keep myself from running out for fast food when I run into those situations.
ReplyDeleteI've never added water to the squash, though. I've sliced it in half and put it face down on a cookie sheet, or just stabbed it and cooked it whole. Is there a reason for the water?
I add a bit of water to help steam the inside of the squash. I find it makes the squash much softer and takes away the slight crunch, and much more noodle-like, if you add just a bit of water.
ReplyDeleteHi - as with all my other types of squash, I never cut before cooking. I stab it near the stem and cook whole for an hour or so, till it seems shrunken and you can put the knife into it really easily.
ReplyDeleteOnce it's done, you can easily cut in half, easily scoop out seeds (careful, it's hot) and easily shred/scrape into spaghetti consistency with a fork. I've never had a problem with a crunch and never really have much trouble with watery-ness (not a real word, LOL).
We love it the next day, too.
This has been one of the biggest primal meal hits in our house. And the sauce uses BACON and also minced veggies. So yummy! I think I've posted it before, but it bears re-posting ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-spaghetti/