Spaghetti Squash Baked Ziti

I love to use spaghetti squash in place of noodles in my favorite Italian recipes. This spaghetti squash recipe is done in the style of a Baked Ziti. Don’t be turned off by the sour cream…I know it sounds strange, but trust me, it works! This is much quicker to make and assemble compared to Spaghetti Squash Lasagna.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place upside down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake until soft (about 45 minutes – 1 hour depending on size). Remove from oven. Flip over to release steam. See below for more spaghetti squash tips.
2. When the spaghetti squash has cooled, use a fork to scrap out the flesh.
3. Put olive oil in a large skillet or large pot and heat on medium heat. Add onion and ground sausage, cooking until the meat is browned; drain. Add pasta sauce and black olives. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. In a 9×13 baking dish, layer the following: half of the spaghetti squash (sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chia seeds if you need to reduce the moisture), provolone cheese, sour cream, half of the meat sauce, remaining spaghetti squash, mozzarella cheese, and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and the sauce is bubbly. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

You can easily change this recipe to make it your own. If you don’t have Italian sausage, use another type of ground meat (my daughters prefer when I use ground beef). You can alter the sauce by adding green peppers, mushrooms, or other chopped vegetables.

When I posted this recipe, I opted to increase the spaghetti squash (I used 2 medium squashes), sour cream, and cheese just enough so that I could fill 2 half roasting pans. This made enough so we could use one roasting pan to feed our family of 4 for 2 dinners. I put the other half roasting pan in the freezer to save for later. I absolutely love having heat-and-eat meals stashed in the freezer for when company comes or for when we are working on large projects and don’t have time to cook.

*Tips: I have found that spaghetti squash is often high in moisture. Even when I have strained or squeezed the liquid out, my bakes turn out more like soups than casseroles. If you also have this problem, try sprinkling 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds over the spaghetti squash after you have it spread out in the baking dish. I started using chia seeds a couple of years ago. However, I have noticed that the spaghetti squash we grew this year does not have nearly as much moisture as those I have bought or grown in previous years. So, adjust the chia seeds to the moisture of your squash! I usually bake the spaghetti squash the day before or in the morning to give it time to completely cool before I need to scrap it out. This makes handling it so much easier!

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