Roasted Garlic and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats

I am so in love with these! What began as a fun experiment with a friend turned into a feast that will be repeated over and over again!

My sister cooks spaghetti squash in the slow cooker – super easy! Because I wanted to roast garlic and bake bacon at the same time, I roasted the squash in the oven – just as easy!

I had scheduled a “cooking date” with a friend – a time when we try something new, and find a nice wine to sip while preparing, laughing, and enjoying the comraderie. I pulled a bunch of things out of the freezer, refrigerator, and pantry, then searched the web for inspiration. We found a few recipes to use as foundation for our creativity. The result? Incredible!!!

I got two large spaghetti squash from Donna, The Novice Farmer. Half of a larger squash is a substantial meal-in-one. I look at it this way: when there’s no pasta invovled, but a vegetable instead, why make a salad?

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the roasted garlic, cut the top off the garlic head (I always do 8 – 10 heads of garlic at a time so there is plenty in the refrigerator for other recipes), drizzle with a little olive oil, and wrap in a large foil package. Get this into the oven once it’s to temperature. (Garlic takes 45-50 minutes to become tender.)

To prepare the spaghetti squash, scrub the shells really well. Carefully – they are hard! – cut the squash from stem to stern. Scoop out the seeds, brush the cut side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put on a rimmed baking sheet (cut side down). Put in the oven along with the garlic. (Squash takes 30-40 minutes to become tender.)

To prepare the bacon, line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and lay out the bacon slices, making sure they don’t overlap anywhere. Put in the oven. (Bacon takes about 25 minutes to become crispy.)

While all three of those things are baking, get started on your sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the spicy Italian sausage. When it is browned, remove the sausage to a paper towel-covered plate and allow some of the extra grease to drain.

With a paper towel, wipe out all but about 2 Tbsp of oil from the skillet. In this, cook the finely chopped onion and mushrooms, thyme, sage, and chili pepper flakes until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, wine, and fresh basil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened – about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and stir the sausage into the sauce.

(I just couldn’t resist sampling the meat sauce, and taking pictures while it was steaming all those delicious odours into the kitchen…)

Meanwhile – this is when a friend in the kitchen is really nice – in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Have the milk measured and sitting next to the stove. Add the flour (I used this gluten free flour mix), and cook it for about a minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the milk and let it cook for a couple minutes. Keep stirring! 🙂 Then remove from the heat, add a cup and a half of the cheese, and season with freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Some time in the middle of all this prep work, the smells from your oven will become overwhelmingly delicious. Remove the garlic packet and squash so they can cool a bit, and drain the crispy bacon on paper towels.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Using a fork, scrape the squash into spaghetti-like strands, remove from the shell, and put in a large bowl. Squeeze the garlic out of 1-2 heads (if they are large, one full head should suffice, but I had small, home-grown garlic and used 2), and mash until it resembles applesauce. Gently toss the roasted garlic with the spaghetti squash, making sure all the strands have been touched with flavour.

Finely chop the crispy bacon.

To assemble the boats, spread a scoop of meat sauce in the bottom of each squash shell. Add a layer of squash and garlic strands, then some cheese sauce. Divide the remaining squash between the boats, topping with the rest of the meat sauce and cheese sauce. Sprinkle over this the finely chopped crispy bacon, then top with the remaining shredded cheese. Ah-mazing!!!

Place the squash boats on a lined rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.

Roasted Garlic and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats

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• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 4 large portions 1x

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Description

This dish is completely worth multiple steps — many of them can be done at the same time.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 large spaghetti squash
• 1–2 heads garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 pound bacon
• 1 pound spicy italian sausage
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 ounces portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chili pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, stems removed
• 1 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp flour (gluten free flour blend)
• 1 1/4 cup milk (use 2% for best results)
• 1 8 ounce bag shredded mozzarella and provolone blend
• Nutmeg to grate
• Salt and pepper

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut the top off garlic heads, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in aluminium foil, bake until tender
3. Scrub spaghetti squash, cut in half from stem to stern, scoop out seeds, brush the cut side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put on rimmed baking sheet – cut side down – and bake until tender
4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, spread out bacon slices, and bake until crispy – all this can happen at the same time!
5. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage, then remove to drain on paper towels. With 1-2 Tbsp of the sausage grease remaining in the skillet, cook onion and mushrooms, thyme, sage, and chili pepper flakes, until the onion is tender
6. Add the tomatoes, wine, and basil, and simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, then return the sausage to the pan
7. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for about a minute, before adding milk. Allow sauce to simmer for a couple minutes, stirring constantly
8. Remove from heat, stir in 1 1/2 cup of the cheese, grate in nutmeg, and season to taste with salt and pepper
9. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees
10. Drain bacon on paper towels, and chop finely
11. With a fork, scrape the squash into spaghetti-like strands, and remove to a large bowl
12. Squeeze the roasted garlic out and mash until it resembles applesauce, then gently toss with the spaghetti squash
13. To assemble the boats, spread a scoop of meat sauce in the bottom of each squash shell, add a layer of squash with roasted garlic, then some cheese sauce. Divide the remaining squash between the boats, top with the remaining meat sauce and cheese sauce, then sprinkle on the finely chopped crispy bacon and top with mozzarella/provolone
14. Bake on a lined rimmed baking sheet for 20-30 minutes (at 350 degrees)

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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