Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs

The science and the tip; cook in stages, when I cook a dish like spaghetti squash and meatballs, I cook the dish in stages so all the ingredients are ready to serve at the same time.

If you have never made spaghetti squash before; this is a very easy dish to make, that takes about an hour to prepare.

1 spaghetti squash

1 lb ground turkey

⅔ cup fresh diced parsley

1 ½ cups diced onion

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tablespoon crushed ginger

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 cups diced mushrooms

1 cup tomato paste

Olive oil

To start; get the frying pan up to heat before you add the onions and mushrooms, so add the olive oil to the frying pan and heat. You can test the heat a number of ways with a thermometer or just use a fleck of onion, if the onion sizzles it is ready to fry. Dice 1 cup onions and 1 cup mushrooms, sauté the diced onions and mushrooms in a frying pan until partly cooked. Turn the heat down to low and start the spaghetti squash stirring the sauté onions and mushrooms every once in a while.

Spaghetti squash are a little hard for a thin knife to get through and a fat knife can make them split in a way where they won't trap the moisture in the halves.

Perforate 1 spaghetti squash down one side and microwave for 5 minutes on high. the perforations prevent the squash from exploding.

Cut the spaghetti squash in half along perforation and scoop out guts.

Coat insides of the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Place the spaghetti squash inside down on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes at 400⁰ F or 200⁰ C.

In a bowl combine: 1 lb ground turkey, ⅓ cup parsley, ½ cup onion, 1 clove crushed garlic, ½ cup parmesan cheese, 1 tsp paprika, ¼ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper.

Roll into meatballs and place in an oiled pan; I find coating your hands with a little olive oil keeps the meat balls from sticking to your hands.

When the spaghetti squash has bake for 20 minutes at 200⁰ C or 400⁰ F, place the pan of meat balls in the oven with the spaghetti squash for the remaining 20 minutes.

By this time the sauté onions and mushrooms should be fully cooked.

In a large frying pan add olive oil, the cooked mushrooms, and onions.

Then add the 1 cup tomato paste.

Next add ⅓ cup parsley 1 clove crushed garlic and the crushed ginger.

Stir until all is cooked; by this time the spaghetti squash and meat balls should be cooked.

With a fork scoop out spaghetti squash and place in a dish.

Place meatballs on the spaghetti squash and coat in tomato sauce.