‘Spaghetti’ Pie

by akleinbrodt | Jan 31, 2017 | Recipes

Growing up my mom made Spaghetti Pie, it was a great comfort food that the family always enjoyed and looked forward to.  I love recipes that have a story, a history, a memory, so I made my own spin on my mom’s (actually my aunt’s recipe) to accommodate our way of eating.  And now it is a wonderful comfort that my family and I enjoy.

Even better, it’s easy and low fuss. Though it may not look gourmet or pretty, it’s delicious and everyone enjoys it without complaints. Win – Win!

Adapting a family recipe, or just a recipe that you’re comfortable and accustomed to making is a great way to begin when you’re overhauling your diet.  It can feel overwhelming enough just to break old habits. To learn a whole new vernacular of recipes can just send you over-the-top.  When my clients are just starting out, I recommend beginning with what you know and are comfortable with and adapting from there.  You want this to be a sustainable lifestyle, and if you throw too much, too soon you’re likely to overwhelm yourself and throw in the towel. So do yourself a favor, if this real, whole food diet is new to you.  Start with what you know and make some healthy swaps.  Like in this recipe, we swap out traditional spaghetti pasta with spaghetti squash (or zucchini noodles).

I hope you enjoy the recipe. It tastes much better than it looks, I promise!

‘Spaghetti’ Pie

• 1 large spaghetti squash(or 4 medium / large zucchini squash)
  
• 1.5-2 lbs pasture raised, ground beef
• 2 pasture raised eggs
• 4 tbsp Garlic Gold Italian seasoning
• 1 jar 25 oz Tomato sauce
• sea salt (to taste)

For Fall / Winter time spaghetti squash is a great option. It’s best to bake the spaghetti squash ahead of time. On my prep day I’ll throw all my starchy veggies in the oven, so they’re ready to go when I’m ready to prepare them for meals throughout the week.  I cut the spaghetti squash the short way to make several small circles, take the seeds out, and bake at 350 (convection) for 45 minutes (may take longer in non-convection ovens).  Once cooled, it’s easy to remove the seeds and remove the strings of the squash. Using my Misto sprayer, I coat my 4 quart Pyrex casserole dish with olive oil (and I’m generous because I like easy clean-up).

For Spring / Summer zucchini zoodles (zucchini cut into noodles) are a great substitute for for the spaghetti squash. I use this Spiralizer,which is a fun way to cut any vegetable into fun noodles or chips (with one of the other blade attachments). 

After the baking dish is well coated, I work inside the dish so I don’t have any extra dishes to clean (this is a time saver too). First, I mash the spaghetti squash (or zucchini) with 2 eggs, sea salt (to taste)and 2 tbsp Garlic Gold Italian seasoning.

Next, I add the ground beef and pour the entire jar of Tomato sauce, remaining 2 tbsp Garlic Gold Italian seasoning and another dash or two of sea salt (there’s no salt in the Eden tomato sauce and the squash really soaks up the seasonings on it’s own).

Then I mush it all together, trying to get the meat and sauce mixed into the squash.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 in a convection oven (longer if you’re not using convection), and there it is, dinner is done. I add a non-starchy veggie just to make sure I have all our macro-nutrients present in our meal, but otherwise it’s a simple and delicious take on an old family recipe.

What are some new takes on old family recipes that you’ve tried? 

With love from my kitchen to yours,

Allyson Kleinbrodt

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