Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

This seasonal dish is ripe for variations — use mushrooms or eggplant in place of some or all the meat! Put in pesto or pine nuts or capers or any other flavor-booster that goes with your other ingredients! Because all items are pre-cooked, this is a great make-ahead dish. Prep all the way through stuffing the squash, then store in the fridge until you want to eat and pop it in the oven to heat through.

What you need:
1 lb ground meat of your choice (like turkey from J&L Green Farm!)
Bellair veg: 2 spaghetti squash, 2 peppers, 1 onion, and 6 roma tomatoes
Breadcrumbs from 2 slices bread
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Cheese, for serving

Alternative ingredient options: sundried tomatoes, pesto, mushrooms of any kind, chile peppers, scallion, eggplant

Serves 4

Start by making breadcrumbs, if need-be. I always have stale leftover heels laying around. I food-process stale bread into crumbs and then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 375 F oven. You can also just use store-bough breadcrumbs! Meanwhile, pre-cook all ingredients: quarter a quart or so of roma or other tomatoes and roast. Halve the squash and par-roast, cut sides down. Cook the chicken in a skillet until done, then use the same pan to sauté peppers and onions. When the squash is nearly cooked and the tomatoes have lost a lot of water (about 30 minutes or so), take them out of the oven. Turn the squash over and scoop out some, but not all, of the flesh. Combine this flesh with the chicken, tomatoes, pepper-onion mix, and most of the breadcrumbs. Stuff each squash half and top with remaining breadcrumbs. Return to over to heat through, about 15-20 minutes. Top with a cheese of your choice! When I first made this last season in 2021, Twenty Paces had their Cheese Spread and that’s what I used but lots of options like Caromont chevre or Shenandoah Valley cheddar would work.