Sunday "Spaghetti" Casserole

This healthy spaghetti casserole is made from spaghetti squash, and each huge serving is filling, while being low in calories and high in protein, veggies and fiber.

Great meal for a healthy Sunday dinner for the whole fam (or meal prep for the week!)

This recipe was born of my Italian roots and LOVE of pasta but also the desire to hit my health and fitness goals. Now, don't get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with REAL pasta from time to time and that is something I will NEVER give up. Full stop! But, it's also great to have alternatives too for days when you want to eat light, or when you're working on a fat loss or body recomposition phase, or when you're just looking for more yummy ways to infuse veggies into your diet.

This is not one of those fast weeknight recipes, which is why I call it Sunday Spaghetti Casserole. There are several steps, but the ingredients are simple and it's pretty hard to mess up. I'll give you my short cut methods below. This recipe is also easily customizable with different veggies, proteins and/or whatever sauce you like.

Sunday Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 package of 93% ground turkey (mine is 19.2 ounces, but a pound, 16oz, will do but will lower the total protein slightly)

• 2 tbsp minced garlic in water (in the jar, but can use fresh if you'd like)

• 1 Jar of organic tomato basic marinara sauce (I use Aldi Simply Nature with no added sugar)

• 1.5 cups cottage cheese (I use 4% but you can use low fat)

• 1 package of frozen spinach

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp sea salt

• pepper as desired

• ~ 1 tsp garlic powder

• ~ 2 tsp Italian seasoning

  
  

Directions

Prep:

1. Prep your spinach for later: Take your spinach out and let thaw in a colander until you are ready to cook. If you need to speed up this process, microwave lightly and set it to drain.

2.  I suggest cooking the squash in advance, so it's cooled and easy to handle. I cook mine earlier in the day or in the morning and put this meal together in the later afternoon, evening. You can just leave it on your counter. Cut in half once cooked if you want it to cool even faster.

Cook spaghetti squash:

1. Poke holes in your spaghetti squash with a large fork (a few around each side) and put into a microwave safe dish with a 1/2 inch of water in the bottom.

2. Microwave for 5 minutes, then turn on the other side and microwave another 5 minutes

3. Stick a fork into all sides. It should feel very soft. If not completely soft on all sides, turn and microwave for 3 minutes until it's soft all over.

Cook the Sauce:

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pot.

2. When hot, add the ground turkey and break up and cook until no longer pink.

3. Add 1-2 tbsp minced garlic in water and cook for a few more minutes

4. Add the jar of sauce and let the whole thing simmer for a few minutes. See note below*

5. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes with a vented lid over top, stirring occasionally.

6. While simmering, squeeze the water out of your spinach and set aside.

7. Remove the seeds from your squash and use a fork and/or spoon to scrape out all the strands from inside into a bowl.

*Note: This is fine, as is, if you want to be fast and simple but feel free to doctor up your sauce with spices however you like. I usually do add some additional garlic powder and Italian seasoning and pepper. Also taste for salt level.

Make the filling:

1. Combine cottage cheese, thawed and drained spinach, squash strands and 1 egg. Add 1 tsp salt, pepper and garlic powder. Feel free to add some Italian seasoning in here if you want.

Layer Everything:

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Spread half the sauce in the bottom of 13x9 pan

3. Spread all the squash filling next

4. Top with the rest of the sauce

5. Bake for 45-60 minutes uncovered until you smell it and the edges are bubbling

   1. Top with cheese at about the halfway point (about 30 minutes is good)

To serve/ Notes:

• Let sit for 15-30 minutes before cutting. It will hold together better this way

• serve with a nice green salad or veggie of choice

• This tastes even better leftover as all the flavors mix and the juices soak back into the casserole

• This is delicious both hot and cold leftover

Nutrition (per serving)

Makes 6 large servings

Calories: 371

Protein: 33.6 g

Carbs: 25 g

Fat: 17.4 g

Fiber: 5.2 g

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PS- Recipes are great but knowing how to build meals every day, with foods that YOU like, that support your hormones and fat loss goals is even better!

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