CSA Harvest Week 13: Broccoli, Spaghetti Squash, Eggplant, Green Beans, Heirloom Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Zucchini, and Okra

Finally, some broccoli, one of my favorites!  I can’t wait to share my favorite broccoli recipe later this week!

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Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs (So Good You Won’t Miss the Spaghetti At All)

I am a girl who loves, no, adores her pasta.  Even though I don’t usually have it with sauce (or gravy, depending on where you’re from).  I’ll pause a moment while that sinks in.

Yes, I really like my spaghetti plain.  No sauce, no butter, no olive oil, just plain.  But I love lasagna and baked ziti, and all those type dishes and they all have sauce.  I didn’t say it made any sense; I just said this is what I like.

To digress a moment, I had two pasta revelations in the last few years. 1) I became a meatball aficionado.  Mom never really made meatballs, just ground beef, with our spaghetti, and they always seemed to close to meatloaf, which I loathe, for my taste.  But, I tried a meatball at a fabulous local Italian place when I first moved to where I live now and I was converted.  And then, at a charity auction, I won a gourmet gift basket that included a copy of Shore Gourmet, a cookbook of recipes from excellent Jersey Shore restaurants.  And damn if the recipe for the meatballs from my local Italian place wasn’t in there.  I leapt for joy.  And then, of course, I tinkered with it.  And I put a little sauce on it.  So there.

The second revelation was whole grain pasta.  I’ve tried whole wheat pasta before.  May I say — BLECH!  It was like eating cardboard mixed with sawdust.  I ran screaming back to the arms of my semolina, most specifically Barilla, which I think is hands-down the best mass market dry pasta there is.  So, when my grocery store started stocking Barilla’s whole grain pasta, which is 51% whole wheat and 49% semolina, I thought I’d give it a try.  I loved it.  Very much like 100% semolina, without a trace of cardboard or sawdust, and it made me feel a bit more virtuous.

Which brings me to my third pasta revelation:  spaghetti squash.  I had heard for years that it was just like spaghetti.  I was sure that this was complete nonsense.  Some sort of marketing ploy from the vegetable lobby.  Or something like that.  Well, this was my opportunity to put the hype to the test — a spaghetti squash appeared in this week’s harvest.

I’m going to warn you — you’ve got to plan ahead for this dinner because that squash has to roast for a good hour and a half.  But it’s gonna be worth it, I promise.  And I promise you won’t miss the pasta at all.

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs. I realize this dish isn't going to win any beauty contests, but it is delicious.

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

by CSAGourmet

Serves 4 as a main course

For spaghetti squash:

1 large spaghetti squash
3 Tbsp butter at room temperature
6 medium cloves of garlic
salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Get the spaghetti squash in the oven first.  Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  Place cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle the cut sides lightly with salt.  Crush garlic (I use a garlic press) into softened butter.  Mix together well.  Slather the butter mixture over the cut flesh of the spaghetti squash.  Place in oven.  Roast 1 1/2 hours until interior flesh is very soft.  About halfway through, I raked a fork down the insides to start separating the strands and mixing in the butter, which will have melted by then.  While it is roasting, make the meatballs.

For meatballs:

1 package ground pork (1.3 to 1.5 lbs)
5 medium cloves garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
1 c Italian-flavored bread crumbs
1/2 c finely grated romano cheese (I use my microplane)
olive oil

In a bowl, combine ground pork, crushed garlic (I use a garlic press), finely chopped fresh parsley, egg, bread crumbs, and cheese.  Mix by hand until just combined and ingredients evenly distributed.  Don’t overmix or the meatballs will get heavy.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in an ovenproof skillet.  If you don’t have an ovenproof skillet, start the meatballs in the skillet and transfer to a baking sheet.  Roll meatballs into balls (I make mine pretty big, big enough to get about 8 out of the mixture) and drop into hot oil.  Sear on 4 sides, turning as needed.  Place skillet in oven with the squash when the squash has about 25 minutes to go.  Bake meatballs until done through, about 25 minutes.

Assemble final dish.  Drag a fork down the insides of the squash, shredding it into the spaghetti-like strands.  Each half of the squash makes two servings.  Mound squash on the plate like spaghetti.  Nestle two meatballs in the spaghetti squash.  Enjoy!

What, you want sauce?  Oh, alright.  Make the roasted tomato sauce from my No Bake Lasagna.  Hell, you already have the oven on.

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