Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
We love using spaghetti squash in so many of our favorite Italian recipes. For this recipe, I simply used my lasagna recipe and replaced the lasagna noodles with spaghetti squash. One of the wonderful things about lasagna is that it is easily adaptable. Variations of this recipe that I have done were using sliced zucchini to supplement the spaghetti squash; adding mushrooms, sliced black olives, or chopped green peppers to the sauce; replacing the spinach with sautéed radish greens (what we did this time). The Holme-grown ingredients we used for this meal were spaghetti squash, parsley, radish greens, and eggs.
This recipe freezes great! Instead of doing a 9×13 pan, this time I somewhere between 1.5 and doubled the recipe to make 3 half roasting pans. One went into the oven (enough for 2 dinners for us) and the other 2 went into the freezer, labeled with baking instructions. Lasagna takes a long time to prepare, so I would rather do it only once! It is also a great company food so its nice to always have on hand just in case! Below is the original recipe, scaled to just fit in a 9×13 pan.
Recipe
Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
1 large spaghetti squash
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
⅔ cup chopped onion
½ Tbsp. minced garlic
⅔ cup chopped fresh parsley (divided)
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 (10 oz) package chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dried
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
3 eggs
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
(1-2 Tbsp) chia seed, optional; see tips at bottom)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place upside down on the 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.
- When spaghetti squash has cooled, use a fork to scrap the flesh out; divide the flesh into thirds.
- In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage with the onions, garlic, and ⅓ cup of parsley. Drain. Add pasta sauce. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine remaining parsley, ricotta cheese, spinach, parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a 9×13 baking dish, spread 2 cups of the sauce mix. Begin layering with ⅓ of the spaghetti squash (sprinkle with 1 Tbsp chia seeds if your spaghetti squash has a lot of liquid), ½ of cheese mixture, ⅓ of remaining sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat this layer again. Last, layer is spaghetti squash, sauce, and mozzarella cheese.
- Bake covered in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Spaghetti Squash Tips
I usually bake my spaghetti squash ahead of time (the day before or the morning of), allowing it to completely cool before handling. For tools, I use one of those cheap Halloween pumpkin carving kits with a small handsaw and seed scoop every time I prepare raw winter squash because I struggle to cut it in half with a knife. Some spaghetti squash is especially moist. For these, I put in a colander over a bowl and press out as much of the liquid as I can. Also, I have found that sprinkling in a couple tablespoons of chia seeds to the dish before baking it helps soak up the extra liquid with no change in taste or texture. For this lasagna, I would sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of chia seeds on each the 1st and 2nd layer of spaghetti squash.