Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1lb organic ground beef
- 1 small carrot, washed and chopped into smaller pieces
- 1/4 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic peeled, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup organic ketchup
- 1/2 TBS black strap molasses
- 2 TBS fresh chopped Italian parsley and/OR 1-2 tsp Herb’s de Province
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs OR 1 TBS potato starch or tapioca starch for GF version (or GF bead crumbs if you have them)
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- olive oil as needed
- 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (my person fav is Trader Joe’s Vodka Sauce)
- Parmesan, Romano, Mozzarella, Ricotta, or any combination of the four for topping
- Fresh basil or arugula for topping.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut spaghetti squash in half (this is easier to do if you cut the ends with the stems off first, then cut it in half lengthwise), remove seeds and pulp. Place cut side down in a dish with a small amount of water. Bake for 45 min to an hour. Test squash after 45 minutes by piercing the flesh with a fork, if it goes in easily, then its done. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
While the squash is baking prepare the meat balls. Place the carrot, onion, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles a chunky paste. In a mixing bowl combine the carrot mixture, ketchup, molasses, herbs, bread crumbs/GF starch, and salt. Stir to combine.
At this point (before your hands get goopy with raw meat you probably want to put a saute pain on the stove at medium heat with a small amount of olive oil. This way its ready to go once you have formed your meat balls and you can drop them right in!
Next mixed ground beef into the bowl and combine well with other ingredients, using your hands. Once combined, roll meatballs about 1 inch around and place on a plate until done. Once all your meatballs are formed gently plop them in your hot pan and brown on all sides.
Once meatballs are browned on all sides, add the jar of sauce to the pan, bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through, stirring occasionally.
While meatballs are simmering, prepare spaghetti squash. Turn over the cooled squash, using a fork gently scrap the inside flesh using long strokes. The squash should come off in long pieces like spaghetti. Continue to scrap the squash until it is all shredded into “noodles”. If desired add a little butter or olive oil and salt to the squash.
Top the squash with meatballs and sauce, add fresh chopped basil or arugula and cheese of your choice. Voila!