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[Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Sauce. By Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.]

I’ve been calling this “Bolognese” sauce but in looking it up it’s not really that in line with typical Bolognese sauce ingredients. But it’s very tasty nonetheless.

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 pound ground beef, pork,  or Italian sausage. If the meat is lean, you may need to add some fat to keep it from sticking and to add flavor and nutrition. Olive oil or bacon drippings would be good.
• 1 jar of red pasta sauce (homemade or store bought–look for an organic brand with little or no added sugar)
• Optional add ins for extra delicious sauce:* (where to buy salt, herbs, spices)
  • 1/4c mixed dried Italian herbs**
  • 4 garlic cloves, mashed
  • Splash of red wine
  • Splash of olive oil (where to buy olive oil)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for topping (optional)

*I often get store-bought sauce and dress it up. I’ve never found a brand that

isn’t greatly improved by adding a LOT more herbs. Plus garlic, red wine, olive oil, and a little sea salt and pepper.

**Whatever you have on hand. You may have an Italian blend ready to go, or you could mix basil, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, sage, fennel, thyme, and/or parsley. I typically put the harder fennel seeds and rosemary in the mortar and pestle and grind those well, then add all the other herbs and grind it a bit, to release their flavors, then add it all to the sauce. You can also add a little crushed red pepper flakes to taste if you like a little heat, or let people add that at the table.

Directions

Prepare the squash:

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds
2. Place cut side down in a baking dish with 1/2″ of water
3. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until a fork pierces the flesh easily.
4. Remove pan from oven, pour off water and flip squash over to cool slightly (or remove squash carefully from the water and let it rest on a cutting board).
5. When it’s cooled slightly so you can handle it, use a fork to pull the squash flesh out in spaghetti-like strands.

When the squash is about halfway done, you can start your sauce:

1. Brown the meat in a frying pan, breaking it up.
2. Put the red pasta sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. Add the mixed dried herbs, garlic, salt, pepper, wine, and olive oil, stir well and heat through.
4. Add the cooked meat.

Place some spaghetti squash in each serving bowl, top with sauce, and sprinkle with grated cheese.

[Cut the Spaghetti Squash in half and scoop out the seeds. By Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.]

[Place cut side down in a baking dish with about a half inch of water and

bake until tender. By Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.]

[Use a fork to separate the strands. By Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.]

[Top with Bolognese or your favorite sauce. By Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.]

A note on ingredients: Always use the best ingredients you can afford, which in this case would be organically or biodynamically grown squash and garlic, meat from pastured animals, homemade or organic pasta sauce, raw milk cheese, non-irradiated herbs, Celtic sea salt, organic unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil, and organic or biodynamic wine.

Thanks for reading Farm Food Blog! Eat well–for your health, for animal and farm worker welfare, for the environment, for rural economies. Every bite is a vote for farm food freedom.  If we aren’t free to choose the food that turns into our very cells, we have no freedom at all.

This post is linked to:

• Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays for 01/25/12.

Filed under: The Food by Jill