Spaghetti Squash Bolognese Bake

Oooey gooey goodness with all the meat, cheese, veg, and sauce that you can fit in the pan.

I updated one of my classic recipes - and it’s not in any of my cookbooks.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese Bake, recipe and photo by me, Anna Vocino

I hope you give this bake a try. It’s delicious and it yields a ton.

The livestream I did had some messed up sound, so I can’t in good conscience recommend you watch it. I don’t know if it’s my mics or Substack compressing the sound, but next time I will go live to YouTube, so please subscribe there to be notified.

This recipe uses Eat Happy Kitchen Marinara, but you can use whatever brand you want (check the label for no sugar added and no seed oils), or make a scratch marinara.

I’m supposed to do a big announcement about how we’re doing free shipping on orders over $75 over at Eat Happy Kitchen, so consider this a big announcement.

Here’s the downloadable, printable PDF of this recipe:

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese Bake Annavocino Ehk Copy

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SPAGHETTI SQUASH BOLOGNESE BAKE

(Serves 4-6)

NOTE: In place of the Eat Happy Kitchen marinara, you can use any store-bought brand, just check the label for no sugar. Or you can use 2 14-ounce cans of tomatoes, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, and an additional teaspoon of salt.

• 1 spaghetti squash

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 1 carrot, grated (about 1/4 cup of grated carrot)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon white ground pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• 7-10 basil leaves, chopped

• 1 25-ounce jar Eat Happy Kitchen marinara

• 1/2 pound Brussels Sprouts, ends trimmed and discarded, quartered

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup grated fontina or mozzarella cheese, divided

• 1/3 cup fresh parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Microwave the spaghetti squash for 2 minutes to soften it. With a sharp, large kitchen knife, carefully cut spaghetti squash lengthwise into halves. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the squash halves face down on a foil lined baking sheet and cook until squash softly indents when you press it, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the spaghetti squash flesh-side-up and let cool while prepping the meat mixture.

Heat the olive oil in a large, flat-bottomed sauté pan to medium high heat, until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion and carrot, and let them soften, about 3-4 minutes, then add the minced garlic and let cook 1 more minute. Add the ground beef, and separate with a spatula into bite-sized pieces. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the beef is browned. Drain off the excess grease. Add in 1 teaspoon of the salt plus the garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, oregano, and thyme, and stir to mix the spices with the meat. Add the chopped fresh basil and stir to soften basil, about 1 minute.

Pour in the jar of Eat Happy Kitchen Marinara, stirring to mix it with meat. Stir in the Brussels sprouts and remaining teaspoon of salt. Bring the whole mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low to allow the Brussels sprouts to cook and get soft, about 12-14 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the heavy cream.

Meanwhile, using a fork, scrape the spaghetti strands out of the squash shell, discarding the shell. If needed, pat dry any excess water from the spaghetti squash strands. Fold in the spaghetti squash evenly with the meat mixture. Fold in 1/2 cup of the grated fontina cheese.

Pour the contents into a 9x12 casserole pan or Pyrex dish and flatten. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated fontina and the parmesan on top. Bake in the oven 20-30 minutes, or until the casserole and cheese are bubbling and starting to brown but not burn. Remove from the oven, let stand 5-10 minutes, and serve.