Spaghetti Squash Torte - With a Dash of Meat for Good Luck

I'm always looking for new, fun ideas to incorporate veggies into my daily diet. So when I saw that a fellow Foodbuzzer, Trix featured a scrumptious-looking recipe for spaghetti squash tortes with cheese, roasted garlic and fresh herbs, I was intrigued. The simple instructions excited me most, and because I've prepared spaghetti squash before, I was ready to take on another challenge with this fascinating vegetable.

The presentation for this dish is what really got me - it looked so professional, which is surprisingly easy to do with the help of a simple ramekin or an empty and cleaned out tuna can. Although I pretty much followed Trix's recipe to the T, I also added in delicious shredded pork that I had left over from a recent dinner at MexiQ. It worked really well with the starchy squash and gave it more stature and masculinity. Another one of my tweaks involved substituting sharp cheddar cheese for gruyere, simply because the gruyere was too expensive. Cheddar (or any other cheese of your liking) will do just fine.

Enjoy the spaghetti squash recipe and let me know about the tweaks you make.

Spaghetti Squash is as Good as Spaghetti

Margot's post last week about spaghetti squash inspired me to make my own. I switched it up a bit, seasoning it not only with salt and pepper but also dried thyme and fresh parmigiano cheese. Then, I topped it with fresh cherry tomatoes and spicy chicken sausage. I really wanted to elevate the spice in this dish, as the spaghetti squash is bland on its own--once I kicked it up a notch, the flavors just sang. While the squash takes a long time to cook, it's worth the wait. Overall, this recipe is really freakin easy and really healthy too - try it!

Spaghetti Squash with Chicken Sausage and Tomatoes

Ingredients (serves 2)
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbs of butter or olive oil
Pinch of dried thyme
2 tbs of fresh parmigiano cheese, grated (reserve some more for topping the dish if you want)
1/3 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved (and seeded if you prefer)
2 pieces of organic chicken sausage (I used jalapeno and cheddar)

Directions
Cook spaghetti squash according to Margot's recipe. Add dried thyme and parmigiano cheese at the end. Cook chicken sausage on a grill pan or grill until you get nice char marks. Cut sausage in half, then cut again into fourths and then chop into smallish pieces (about a half an inch wide).

Top spaghetti squash with cherry tomatoes (however many you like) and grilled chicken sausage (again, to your liking). Grate some fresh parmigiano on top if you love cheese.

Thanks for a great idea Margot!