Baked spaghetti squash tossed with sautéed onions, kale, sausage, and Parmesan cheese.
Spaghetti squash is winter squash unlike any other. When you cook it and scrape it with a fork, the flesh peels away like ribbons of pasta, hence the name. The taste is light and texture almost a little crunchy.
Spaghetti squash’s best friend? Sausage. They just like each other, like pasta and meatballs.
So when I saw this recipe in my friends Todd Porter and Diane Cu‘s stunning cookbook Bountiful, with recipes inspired by their garden, I couldn’t wait to dive in!
I changed it ever so slightly, adding a cup of sliced kale for some green, and using minced red onions instead of shallots. Score! Thank you Diane and Todd, this recipe is fabulous.
Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Sausage and Kale Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Recipe adapted from, and published with the permission of the authors of, Bountiful: Recipes Inspired by Our Garden by Todd Porter and Diane Cu.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- One 3-pound (1.4 kg) spaghetti squash
- 3/4 pound (340 g) turkey sausage (or any favorite sausage), bulk or removed from casings
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 to 2 cups thinly sliced kale
- 1 cup (100 g) coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
- Kosher or sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Preheat oven and prepare pan: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Oil a sheet pan with one tablespoon of the oil, or line the sheet pan with Silpat.
2 Prep the spaghetti squash: With a sharp chef’s knife, slice off 1/2-inch from the ends of the spaghetti squash. Then stand the squash up on one of the ends to stabilize it, and cut the squash in half, top to bottom.
Scoop out any seeds and stringy bits inside, and place the squash halves cut-side down on the oiled or lined sheet pan. Poke the tops of the halves with the tip of a sharp knife.
3 Bake: Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 35 to 45 minutes until you can easily poke the sides of the squash with a fork. Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Then using the tines of a fork, scrape out the « spaghetti »-like strands of the squash to a bowl.
4 Sauté onions, garlic, kale: In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
Add the sliced kale and cook for a minute or two.
5 Add the sausage: Add the sausage and cook without stirring, until the sausage starts to brown, then stir and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage bits are cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes.
6 Add the spaghetti squash strands to the sausage mixture and stir to combine, cook until the squash is heated through, about a minute.
7 Add Parmesan and oregano: Remove from heat and add the grated Parmesan cheese and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
