Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Spaghetti Squash has always been one of our favorite pasta alternatives. I decided to make it like a 'regular' baked spaghetti dish(you can add meat too if you like, this time around I did veggie pasta sauce). Delicious!






1 spaghetti squash, baked, sliced and carved for the strands* (mine was about 4lbs)

Sauce:
1 TB olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchinis, shredded
2 small carrots, shredded
2 tomatoes, diced and peeled(1 can diced for a shortcut)
2 cups tomato sauce(16 oz can for shortcut)
1 tsp sugar
1 TB dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

mozzarella and parmesan cheese to taste

Heat oil in a large pot, add onions and garlic, cook until the onions are translucent, add the remaining ingredients and simmer several hours.
I run my immersion blender through them for a smoother sauce. The kids tend to not be as finicky if they cant SEE the veggies, but you can leave them if you wish.









In a casserole dish spread 1/2 the spaghetti squash strands, several scoops of sauce and some cheese. Top with remaining strands, more sauce and more cheese. Dont overload it too much though, but go until you think it looks good. I cant give exact amounts because it all depends on the size of your squash.

(You can freeze any remaining sauce for future use)





Preheat oven to 350
Cover the dish with foil and bake 30 minutes, remove foil and bake 15 minutes more.

* To bake a spaghetti squash prick holes all over it to prevent it from exploding, preheat oven to 375, place the squash in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour until very tender.( I prefer to do it whole, you can slice it in half and bake sliced sides down. It will take less time)
Allow to cool so you can handle it easily.
Slice in half, scoop out seeds and the dark middle pulp, (it is very bitter, so make sure its gone!)
Then with a fork  scrape out the spaghetti like strands into a dish.