Friday, November 1, 2013

Sausage & Spaghetti Squash Bake

Colder temps and shorter days have me yearning for comfort foods -- soups, one-pot meals and CASSEROLES! Well casseroles can be harder with a low-carb lifestyle. They tend to rely heavily on ingredients like pasta, potatoes and rice.



Recently I was thinking about a dish I had made a long time ago -- a savory noodle kugel kind of thing and it dawned on me that I could certainly make that low-carb -- with spaghetti squash. Now if you have never used or cooked spaghetti squash, I have a great tutorial here

This made a wonderful supper paired with a big salad (made this for Halloween supper and Mr. 
Dreamy and I dined and took turns passing out treats to our little t-or-t'ers) but would also be perfect for brunch, lunch and/or breakfast. Very easy and oh, so yummy (and fit the bill perfectly for comfort food)!!

Sausage & Spaghetti Squash Bake

1 (3 lb.) spaghetti squash
8 ounces bulk breakfast style sausage
1/2 small onion

1-2 tsp rubbed sage (this is going to depend on how sagey your sausage is -- I really love sage so used 2 tsp)
6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cracked pepper

drop or a few of hot sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese

To cook spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet sprayed with oil. Bake for 45 minutes at 375°F or until tender. Set aside to cool a bit. Fork rake the flesh from the shell and set aside or refrigerate if not going to use right away. To assemble bake, crumble and cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat, adding chopped onion mid way through cooking and cook until sausage is cooked through. Add sage and then stir in the spaghetti squash. If the squash is very watery, you can cook the mixture a little to help it evaporate. Butter 8-inch square baking dish or equivalent and spread squash mixture in dish. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, pepper and hot sauce, then pour over the squash and sausage mixture. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over the top and cook another 5 minutes, until melted. Serve hot for breakfast, brunch or supper. Serves 4 large or 6 more moderate sized servings. For 4 servings each serving is 551 calories, 13.05g carbs, 2.4g fiber = 10.65 net carbs.