All the flavors of a hearty spaghetti dinner packed into a tender, roasted spaghetti squash. These Stuffed Spicy Italian Spaghetti Squash Boats are the answer to comfort food made in a healthy way. A fork is all it takes to separate the pale orange strands of the gourd into vegetable noodles. It couldn’t be easier.
I love pasta. I wish I could eat it all the time! I get a kick out of reading the nutrition label on the pasta box and what they consider a serving size for a heck of a lot of calories. Let’s just say I’m not indulging in eating pasta as much as I did in my thirties or twenties.
Luckily, I’ve always loved squash of all kinds. I remember begging (as a kid) for every meal to include squash, especially zucchini. However, I also wanted every meal to include dessert, especially cake. So there’s that. Balance I guess.
Using spaghetti squash as a substitute for spaghetti noodles has been a gift. It lets me mimic and enjoy that hearty Italian dinner I’ve been craving and relieves so much of the my guilt when I accidentally eat too much pasta. I mean, it is always an accident, right?
After roasting the squash in the oven, it only takes a fork to get these spaghetti-like strands. A great time-saver is to roast your squash on the weekend and keep it in the fridge until your ready to use it. The squash is easily made into these strands even when it’s cold.
To save on calories I used ground turkey sausage and turkey kielbasa mixed into my marinara sauce. It’s totally flavorful, however, you can can use any combination of meat you choose. Ground beef, regular ground turkey, spicy Italian sausage…use whatever you have in the freezer to make your meat sauce.
You’ll definitely be able to enjoy dessert after cutting out the pasta for this meal.
Other fun dinner boats you might enjoy…Who else wants these Stuffed Zucchini Boats? They look so good. And I’m all in for Tuna Avocado Boats and these Eggs Baked in Sweet Potatoes.
Five years ago I shared these Coconut Milk-Lemongrass Shrimp with you. Have you made them yet?
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How to Make Stuffed Spicy Italian Spaghetti Squash Boats
Ingredients
- 2 small spaghetti squash (about 3.5 lbs total)
- 1 package (13 oz) turkey Kielbasa or any other type of Kielbasa, sliced into coins
- 1 lb ground turkey sausage or any other ground meat
- 4 cups (24 oz) marinara sauce
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, plus extra for topping
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions
- Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 400°F. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds. Lay the squashes cut-side down on a sheet pan and roast for about 40 minutes or until completely tender soft when poked with a fork. Transfer to a cooling rack until cool enough to handle.
- While squash is roasting, brown kielbasa over medium heat until each side is golden brown. Remove from pan. Add turkey sausage to the brown and cook until completely done and no longer pink. Add kielbasa back to the pan and stir in marinara sauce, cheeses and red pepper flakes. Keep on low heat until you finish preparing spaghetti squash.
- When squash is done roasting, use a fork to shred the inside of the each squash, leaving about a half-inch of squash left in the shell. Mix the shredded squash into the meat-marinara sauce.
- Divide the meat-squash mixture evenly into each of squash bowls. Sprinkle with more mozzarella cheese and place them in the broiler for a few minutes if a melty, bubbly, cheesy top is what you're after.
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