Monday, November 12, 2018

A keeper recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meat Sauce


Photo from RefreshHer
Several weeks ago I saw this recipe:Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meat Sauce at my friend Denise's blog and knew I just had to try it. 

We love spaghetti squash and I serve it often in the fall, but I never knew it could be cooked successfully in a crock pot.  Well, it certainly can! 

To make this dish, as you will see, one first browns ground turkey and then adds it to a crock pot with the other ingredients.  Then the spaghetti squash, halved and seeded, is placed on top.  It cooks on High for four hours, then the strands of "spaghetti" are loosened and removed to a bowl or plate, with the sauce placed on top.

I usually avoid slow cooker recipes that involve browning meat as a first step; I guess I am just too lazy and I want to skip washing that extra skillet.  But in this case, of course, since it was ground meat, I did brown it.  I also added the onion and some chopped green pepper while browning (I didn't have mushrooms, so left them out and used peppers instead).  For spaghetti sauce, I used our supermarket store brand in the plum tomato and olive oil variety.

By the way, a good tip for cleaning out the "innards" of  spaghetti squash is to use a grapefruit spoon.  The serrated edge works so well to get every bit out.

When I prepared this, my two halves of spaghetti squash wouldn't lay flat atop the meat sauce in the cooker as Denise's did in the photo of that step in the recipe.  So I laid one of them flat and the second one sort of sideways.  They both cooked just fine, so don't worry if you have to position your squash halves like that, also.

This is such a delicious meal!  We enjoyed it very much and had the leftovers a night or two later.  They reheated well in the microwave.

I highly recommend you visit RefreshHer -- not only for great recipes like this one, but also for spiritual refreshment and encouragement for homemaking and family matters.  And I do hope you'll try this marvelous fall supper!  I think you would enjoy it as much as we did.

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe and review! I will visit the link you gave to us!

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    1. I think you will enjoy Denise's blog, Terri! This recipe is really delicious.

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  2. I am planning on having spaghetti squash this week and this sounds much easier than the way I usually make it. I will be trying the slow cooker.

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    1. Oh, I hope you enjoy it, Kathy! We certainly did and it was so easy!

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  3. Thank you for sharing my recipe and my blog once again. You are a dear, precious friend! Your blog is so inviting and cozy!

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    1. Awww... thanks, Denise! I consider you a dear, precious friend as well. It was such a wonderful blessing to be able to meet you in person!

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  4. I like visiting Refresh-her. Lots of recipes and good posts. (Not a fan of spaghetti squash...I can’t be fooled, but I wish that I could because I haven’t had pasta for months and I miss spaghetti!)

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    1. Oh, spaghetti squash doesn't fool us either, Vee, but it makes a fine vehicle for this sauce, and I like the way it all cooks together in the slow cooker. If you don't mind the flavor of spaghetti squash (if it can be said to have one!) I think you would probably enjoy this even though you can't pretend it's actual pasta.

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  5. Thank you for this recipe idea. I will bookmark that recipe site!

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    1. It's a wonderful site, Gina. I so enjoy all that Denise shares and I was blessed to meet her in person at a ladies' retreat in September!

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