GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS...
Cooking {without} Class
That's right everyone. The time has come (the walrus said), to share my cooking again!
This week's cooking class is based on a recipe I found on Pinterest...like they all are.
So let's get this thing goin, shall we?
FIRST THINGS FIRST YALL: Apron of the day or #AOTD
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This picture makes my legs look long. Do not be fooled! Also, I'm wearing my most ~fashionable~ flip flops.
I chose this apron because it reminds me of my MawMaw Cascio, and I'm making Italian food, so it was appropriate! |
Now we can really get this thing rocking.
Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb Italian sausage (I mixed spicy & sweet)
2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
2 tablespoons fresh basil
½ cup ricotta cheese (I used a whole cup)
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (again a whole cup, plus topping)
Olive oil
salt & pepper (obviously)
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How would you know what the ingredients looked like if I didn't put a picture?
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Let's talk about ingredients.
- The Italian sausage I got from Trader Joe's. It's actually chicken sausage instead of the traditional pork sausage. I got one package of sweet, and one of spicy. I used half of each to make approximately one pound. I froze the rest. I am good wife, hear me roar.
- The basil I picked from my "herb garden" - which consists of a new basil plant, an old, ugly basil plant, a tomato plant that hasn't bloomed in 4 months, a rosemary bush with spiderwebs in it, a mint plant with about 4 leaves, and some droopy sage. Here's some photos:
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| The new, beautiful, fragrant basil plant. I honestly use basil a lot, so it's nice to only spend the money on the plant. |
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| The older, uglier basil plant. |
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BONUS SUCCULENT
MawMaw Cascio liked these a lot too! |
- When choosing a pasta sauce, if you want to be as healthy as possible, you should try to get organic sauce with no added sugar. This is the one I found:
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I'm pretty sure MawMaw Cascio's recipe calls for like a whole cup of sugar, so this is wayyyy healthier.
Definitely not your great grandmother's, but healthier.
- For the cheeses, I think I used TWICE as much as the recipe called for. If you like cheese, which you do because you aren't a monster, then plan on using a whole cup of each. Or more. No judgement here. Also, for health purposes, get the cheese made with skim milk. Anything that says "fat free" screams I'M NOT NATURAL so I don't buy it. Plus its GROSS.
- And since I'm a scientist, here's a nice article to read on fat intake and your diet. Fat is necessary for your body, so pick healthy fats instead of a "low fat or No fat" diet.
- ANNND the article is from the Mayo Clinic. Which I think is funny -- because traditional mayo is really fatty!! lololololol
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Now that we've had a word about ingredients and a health lesson, let's get COOKIN!
- To begin, I readied my oven by turning it to 400 degrees.
- Then I picked out a pan, and decided to use my Silpat, which is this crazy no stick thing. It wasn't really necessary. It also gave me more to clean.
3. Cut the spaghetti squash! If it has extraneous stemmage, cut the stem down. Then
VERY CAREFULLY cut it in half lengthwise, like so:
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| Squash |
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| Meet giant knife |
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| carefullll.... |
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| So very careful.. |
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WHEW IT'S DONE
No fingers were lost! |
4. Clean out the gunk in the squash, just like you would a pumpkin!
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| So fresh and so clean, clean |
5. Put some olive oil on the fleshy part of the squash. I used one of those nice BBQ brushes to put mine on evenly, but you could always use your finger!
6. Place the squash fleshy side down on your pan, put a little water on the bottom, and bake for
45-60 minutes
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This is how much water I used. And yes it did seep under the mat and burn.
And yes it was a pain in the ass to clean. |
7. While the squash is roasting, brown your sausage! Use a pretty big pan.
TIP: I had to take my sausage out of the casing, so I cut it down the middle and squeezed it out.
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| This pack of sausage didn't have casing...but I tried to find it, and made holes in my weiners. |
Crumble it with your hands to brown in the pan!
8. Add the sauce to the sausage. Did I mention to use a big pan?
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| Simmah down nah. |
9. In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and shredded basil.
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| ugh. I love cheese. |
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| SO GEWD |
10. Wait because your squash was huge is cooking SO SLOWWWW
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That's twenty more minutes.
I guess I could clean up the dishes I already dirtied. |
11. When your squash is tinder, swipe right. But when your squash is
tender, fluff out the insides of it with a fork and see the magic! IT LOOKS LIKE SPAGHETTI BUT IT'S NOT
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| Are those NOODLES? |
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| The full fluff. |
12. Fill your squash with lasagna layers! Sauce, Cheese, Repeat. Top with mozzarella.
13. Turn on your broiler, and pop those bad boys in for a couple of minutes - until the cheese on top starts browning.
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| The Health Inspector is at it again. |
14. Marvel at the great beauty in front of you. Take pictures for your blog. Top with parmesan if you want. Then EAT.
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| ooooooooooooooo |
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| ahhhhhhhhhhhh |
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| parm is added to everything at our house |
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| whoahhhhhhh |
Overall Thoughts About this Meal:
It was really good!! Like yum. Judson said it was "probably the best thing you've cooked." I will definitely make it again!
The only bad thing about it was that there was a lot of water at the bottom of my squash bowl. I think next time I will take out the squash and for real layer everything in a 9x9 pan (squash, sauce, cheese). I think that will help with the moisture.
Also, I just realized it was missing a garlic flavor! That's just bad form for an Italian. I'll either add some garlic salt in my layers (I added salt anyway), or add actual chopped garlic to my sausage browning process next time. Granny says that garlic keeps the worms away, so really it's a health concern.
Concise Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash spaghetti squash, cut off stem and slice squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and gunk. Brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place, cut side down, on your baking dish with a little water. Roast for 45-60 minutes.
While squash is roasting, brown Italian sausage in large skillet over medium heat. Add sauce once brown.
In a bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and fresh basil, set aside.
Fluff squash innards.
Layer sauce and cheese until squash is filled. Top with mozzarella.
Broil until cheese turns golden brown.
Hope you enjoyed this installment of Cooking {without} Class! Leave me a comment with questions and compliments. Obviously, there won't be any complaints.
<3 Frankie
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