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Adapted from your favourite family recipe
‘Tis the season for sampling squashes and pumpkins in all shapes and sizes; and we’d be remiss if we didn’t include a spaghetti squash or two on the list. What’s more, this veggie-stand-in for the traditional pasta is so delish you won’t miss the old stuff.
Squashes, pumpkins and gourds comprise a large family of summer & winter veggies in the “cucurbita” family whose differentiating criteria is rife with almost as many exceptions as the English language. We’d recommend not trying to sort it out and simply stick with the stand-by: orange & round = pumpkin; other, miscellaneous squash-looking things = squash.
Ingredients
Method
1. Preheat oven to 400F. (If you’re making the sauce ahead of the squash – ignore this step for now.)
2. Melt a little coconut oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until onion and garlic are soft and aromatic. Add in tomato, carrot, and celery and spices and sauté for about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, honey and veggie stock (start with half of a tetra pack and add more as it simmers – depending on your desired consistency) and cover with a lid. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Stir in red wine about half way through cooking.
3. While the sauce is simmering, prepare your spaghetti squash by first cutting it in half lengthwise, then scooping out the guts. (Don’t get too carried away with your scoopage – the stringy squash might start to come out with the gooey guts.)
4. Pour about a ¼ cup of water into a large baking dish (ensuring that the water covers the bottom of the dish in a thin layer) and place each half of the squash facedown inside.
5. When the sauce is ready to remove from the heat, you might like to use an immersion blender (or regular blender) to pulverize your sauce to the consistency of your liking.
6. Bake the squash until it’s starting to smell delicious and is nicely browned around the perimeter. Serve your sauce on top of the squash and sprinkle a little parmesan (or nutritional yeast) on top!
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Niki Boileau is a Vancouver-based RHN who loves spending time outdoors and dreaming up as many healthy porridge recipes as possible. Get in touch to talk all things food and health and check out her website for more recipe inspiration!
