Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Spaghetti Squash, yummy!

Spaghetti squash is a nice alternative to traditional spaghetti, when making spaghetti and meatballs. It's fun to make and really simple. One medium sized squash produces enough noodles for two to three people, although if you have big eaters you may want to get two. The texture of spaghetti squash noodles is a bit different than that of regular spaghetti, but not too different as to be unpleasant or weird.

I have never made meatballs before, I got the recipe from Mark's Daily Apple and they turned out great. I didn't have rendered bacon fat so at first I used olive oil. Using olive oil, the meatballs stuck to pan really bad. They still turned out okay, but it was a bit frustrating. Halfway through I switched to shortening, which ended up working a lot better than the oil. If you have rendered bacon fat, I have a good feeling that it would work the best and it probably add some nice bacon flavor to your meatballs.

Feeds about four

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized spaghetti squash
• marinara sauce of your choice
  
• 1 lb ground beef
  
• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
• 1 long sprig fresh oregano, minced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• A few grinds black pepper
• 1/4 cup cream - optional
  
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan - optional
  
• 1/4 cup rendered bacon fat

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pierce the squash several times with a knife or other sharp instrument. Place squash on a baking pan and bake for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes -- it's ready when you can pierce it without any resistance.

While the spaghetti squash is baking, prepare the meatballs. First remove the sausages from their linings. Then combine all the ingredients--except the bacon fat-- into a bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll the meat mixture into balls, about the size you would for cookies. To ease this process you may want to put some olive oil on your hands to prevent the meat mixture from sticking to them. In a saute pan heat the bacon fat over medium, once the fat is hot add several meatballs, fry until the bottoms are brown, about 5-7 minutes. Then flip the meatballs over and fry until that side is browned, another 5-7 minutes.

Once the squash is done let cool for about 5-10 minutes. This is a good time to start warming the marinara sauce. Once the squash has cooled enough for you to handle, cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Then using a fork scrape out the inside. The insides should be easy to remove and should come out stringy, looking like noodles.

Top the squash noodles with meatballs and add marinara sauce.

This is a hardy recipe that will fill you up. I can't wait to try making the meatballs again, but with bacon fat instead of shortening. The meatballs did turn out really tasty even though I did burn the outsides of a few. I bake my spaghetti squash for an hour and fifteen minutes or longer I like my noodles to be soft, so I opt for a longer baking time.