Before this casserole, I made spaghetti squash once. And I said I would never, ever make it again. It seemed like a great idea at the time, a vegetable that cooked up into ribbons like spaghetti. Low carb veggie pasta? Brilliant! I bought one, cut it in half, and baked it cut side down like a butternut squash in a little bit of water. Don’t ever do that. I got a soft, stringy, mushy pile of squash, not at all the noodle-like veggies pasta I wanted. It went directly in the trash.
Many years later, my husband’s aunt is now living here with us and is our kids’ amazing one-room schoolhouse teacher. She’s been a vegetarian for more than twenty years, so she’s teaching me a lot! She came in one day with a spaghetti squash and threw together this recipe for her dinner, which I promptly told her I was not going to eat. After she convinced me to try it, I realized that the problem was that I didn’t know how to cook the squash! So, I got the cooking instructions from Auntie, retooled the recipe to make it vegan, and got this delicious dinner.
I made the casserole as an experiment. For Sunday dinner that night, I’d made a veggie spaghetti sauce, black rice spaghetti, salad and einkorn bread. I took some of the spaghetti sauce for the casserole and baked it up, thinking that I’d be eating it alone the next few days. When it came out of the oven, Perry immediately wanted to know why there wasn’t any on his plate. I was sure that when I told him it was a squash casserole, he’d change his mind, but he insisted on having a piece. Then the kids eat wanted to try it. Everyone loved it! So now I have to make a bigger one so everyone can have a whole piece for dinner (and so I can have some leftovers!).
Ingredients
One spaghetti squash
Vegetable spaghetti sauce
Onion, garlic, peppers, all chopped (I used one onion, one pepper, 4 cloves of garlic – I like garlic!)
Vegan shredded mozzarella
Sriracha or your hot sauce of choice
Organic soy burger or hot dog of choice, cut into bite sized pieces (1 for small casserole, 2 for large) – optional
(Why soy? There are lots of options for meat substitutes, and in general, you’re better off without relying too heavily on these processed products. But if you want to have a more meat-like chew in your bite of casserole, soy has a good texture. Why organic? Because the vast majority (more than 90%) is genetically modified and treated heavily with pesticides. It’s highly allergenic to many and the added chemicals may have links to a host of serious diseases. So I don’t eat it, I don’t recommend that you do either. Unfortunately, this time the soy burgers I could find weren’t organic, but they were non-GMO. I do what I can…)
First, cook the squash. Wash it, put in in an oven safe container and bake, whole, for one hour. Let it cool a little.
While the squash is cooking, saute your veggies in olive oil until slightly softened. Add your jarred spaghetti sauce and warm through.
Cut the squash in half (use potholders if you need to), and scoop out the seeds, leaving as much squash behind as you can. Then use a large fork to shred the squash into strands.
Arrange your “spaghetti” in a lightly oiled casserole dish and cover with sauce. Don’t be too generous or the casserole will be watery. Add sriracha here if you like it spicy! Taste the squash and sauce and add salt and pepper to taste (freshly ground black pepper is excellent for digestion). Cut your veggie burgers into bite sized pieces and add to the dish if you’re using them.
Sprinkle your vegan cheese on top and broil until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned. If you’re not making this vegan, you could add some parmeggiano-reggiano shreds for additional flavor. Let it set for a few minutes, then cut, serve and enjoy!
Do you have a favorite vegetarian meal? Please share in the comments below!