Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (chicken, turkey, and lamb can also be substituted for ground beef)

1/4 cup water

1 white onion, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can organic crushed tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can organic crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh organic oregano, or to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh organic basil, or to taste

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Yields: 4 + servings

Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Directions:

Cook the Protein:

Cook and stir ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until the beef is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease. Set beef aside.

Chop the vegetables:

While the ground beef rests, chop the green bell pepper, six garlic cloves, and dice both the zucchini and white onion and set aside.

Make the base of your sauce:

In a large pot on medium heat, combine both your amounts of organic crushed tomatoes, 1/4 cup water, fresh basil, fresh oregano, and red pepper flakes. Now add in all of your veggies: green bell pepper, white onion, garlic, and zucchini and make sure everything is stirred in really well.

Add the Meat to your “Meat Sauce”:

After you have made sure all of your ingredients are blended together in the sauce, combine the ground beef you set aside earlier. Just as you did to mix the veggies, make sure the meat is stirred in well and evenly.

Let the Sauce Cook:

Let the sauce cook (covered) on low-medium heat on the stove for 20-25 minutes (or until ready to serve).

**If you’re anything like me, and in the camp that thinks spaghetti sauce tastes better the next day (or even the day after that), try this; make your sauce in the morning (as instructed above) before you head out for the day and pour all of the contents of the completed sauce from your stovetop into a crockpot or instant pot and cook on the “warm” setting for up to 8 hrs. By cooking in a slow-cooker all day, you allow the vegetables to soften and the garlic and herbs to really marinate well within the sauce, flavoring the tomatoes and ground beef.**

You can cook the spaghetti squash anytime you are ready because it only takes 10-11 minutes in the microwave.

I recommend cooking the squash in the oven, but (head’s up)  it will take three times as long as the microwave.

Cooking the Spaghetti Squash:

Microwave: Poke squash all over with a knife and cook on a microwavable safe dish on medium to high heat for 10-11 minutes or until soft. Once cooked, cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and with a fork, scrape the flesh from the peel, spaghetti like.

Oven: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is heating, rinse your spaghetti squash with cold water and cut it in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard seeds from the middle of each half.
Place the squash face down in a casserole dish and pour about one-half inch to one inch of water into the dish and bake until just tender, about 30 to 45 minutes (depending on size of squash).
You’ll know your squash is done when you can pierce through the skin with a fork or rake a fork back and forth across the squash and the strands remove easily.

Plate your dish:

Take as much spaghetti squash as you want and cover with a generous amount of your delicious paleo meat sauce.

Bon Appetite!