New Recipe – Yummy Spaghetti Squash and Vegetable Tomato Sauce! (Gluten Free and Vegan)

I tried out a new recipe last night and it was so good that I have to share! It is super simple to make, healthy, filling and gluten free! I love pasta and spaghetti and tomato sauce is one of my favourite foods but if you are trying to avoid wheat or gluten in your diet (which a lot of people are doing these days for health reasons), all you need to do is use spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti for a healthy alternative and it tastes great!

Ingredients

1 medium-large spaghetti squash
1-2 jars or cans of tomato or pasta sauce or crushed tomatoes
1 chopped zucchini
12 chopped mushrooms
1 chopped green, yellow or red pepper
1 chopped medium onion
2-4 cloves of garlic minced
(optional-1 chopped carrot and 1 chopped stalk of celery)
0.5-1 tsp sea salt
0.5-1 tsp ground black pepper
0.5-1 tsp oregano
0.5-1 tsp basil
or 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning (instead of oregano and basil)
0.5-1 tsp sugar
1-2 tbsp Olive Oil (not extra virgin)

Directions

1. Set the oven to 400 degress F. Rinse the squash and then cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy parts with a spoon/fork. Brush inside and edges with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

2. Place the squash on a large baking pan face down and bake for about 1 hour if you like it a little crunchy or for softer strands bake 1.5 hours. (Check after 1 hour to see how well the strands are cooked and bake more if needed.)

3. As the squash cooks, you can prepare to make the sauce. First wash and chop all veggies. Chop the onion into small pieces and mince the garlic.

4. When the squash has about 40 min. left to cook, put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium-large saucepan and turn it to medium-high heat (about 7-8) and put in the onion and garlic. (If you wish to add the carrot and celery as well, add it with the onion and garlic.) When starting to sizzle, turn down to medium heat (5) and stir as it browns about 5 min.

5. Add the chopped zucchini, pepper and mushrooms and stir as it sautees another 5 min. or so or until the veggies start looking tender. (To speed up, you can cover with a lid and stir every couple min.)

6. Then add in your tomatoes, tomato sauce or pasta sauce, stir and turn the heat up to medium-high (7-8) and cover. (Use two jars or cans for 4 or more people.) Once the sauce starts bubbling, stir and turn down to medium-low (2-3).

7. Then add your sea salt, black pepper, sugar, oregano and basil (or Italian seasoning instead of oregano and basil) to taste and stir in. I always add a little at a time until I like the taste as not to get too much. (If using tomatoes you will want to double all your spices to taste but if using tomato or pasta sauce, they usually already have some spice.) Cover and cook for about 10 min. stirring occasionally and then taste. If it needs more spice, salt, pepper or sugar, add more. If it tastes strong you can always add a little water or more tomatoes. Then cover again and turn to low (1) and cook another 20 min. to let the flavours combine.

8. When the squash is done, take out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes. When it is not too hot to touch, start scraping the inside edges of the squash with a fork so you can see all the spaghetti like strands separating. Scoop them all out onto plates to serve. (You can scrape the squash skins clean with a spoon to get all the strands out.)

9. Taste the sauce and add any last minute salt or pepper and then scoop some spoonfuls over the spaghetti squash and serve. Enjoy!