Not Spaghetti

So I'd just like to start by saying that I wish I'd had a video camera to capture the spectacle of me trying to half the spaghetti squash that I used in this awesome recipe. I pulled out my biggest knife and tried to saw into it, without success.  So I lifted the knife probably more than a foot above the squash, trying to get the knife to penetrate the tough skin by hitting it.  This got the knife in about half an inch, and trying to saw on it again would do no more good (can you tell I'm a weakling??).  So now I'm balancing the knife-clad gourd on my cutting board with one hand, straining around behind me with the other hand to open a bottom draw to retrieve my meat tenderizer to bang on the back of the knife which only helped me cut into the squash the width of the knife. My next tactic was to try to drop the gourd onto the cutting board while putting pressure on the knife which ultimately ended with the two halves falling to the floor of my kitchen.

This aside, the recipe was surprisingly good considering that the contents of the dish were 90% plant matter.  Not to mention who doesn't need to add a little to their exercise routine??

I had a request to share some of the recipes that I was trying to use some of the contents of my bountiful basket, so this is my first one. I used the onion and two spaghetti squash.

Not Spaghetti
Ingredients:
-5 cups beef or vegetable stock
-1 cup lentils, rinsed
-4 mushrooms, diced
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-4 teaspoons garlic, minced, divided
-2 Tablespoons butter
-1 medium onion, diced
-28 oz can diced tomatoes
-6 oz can tomato paste
-season to taste with basil, oregano, parsley, sea salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce 
  (NOTE:  I go nuts with the basil, easy on the oregano and parsley, salt and pepper are kind of a personal preference as to much much you want or don't want, and we're talking like, 4-5 DROPS of Worcestershire sauce, a little goes a LONG way!)
-2 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds removed
-Shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
1. Place stock, lentils, mushrooms, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of garlic in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In a sauce pot on medium/high heat, melt butter and saute onions until soft. Stir in garlic. Add Dices tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir, cover, and simmer on low.
3.Strain lentil mixture (reserving the stock) and add to the tomato mixture.  If the sauce to too thick for your preference, add some of the stock to thin it down.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve (ideal is 4 hours, though it's still wonderful at 1 hour).
4. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
5. Carefully pour remaining stock onto a cookie sheet and arrange four halves of squash sliced-side down in the stock.  Bake for 30-40 minutes (other directions said "or until you could pierce the skin with a fork" but it got to the point that the fork was just pushing the skin into the soft meat of the gourd and I figured that was good enough!)
6. Flip halves over and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes
7. Using tongs to hold the squash still and a fork to scrape, scrape the stringy meat of the gourd into a bowl
8. Serve the sauce over the squash and top with cheese (optional)


Mmmm... I'm eating the left-overs as I write this! SO tasty! :-D I can't wait to try this with tomatoes I've canned myself this summer!!