Day 15 of 40
Originally posted on Cooking Up Clean [Photo credit: Kari Lund]
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1 large spaghetti squash (or 2 smaller ones)
- 1 pound ground beef or pork
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 3 teaspoons parsley
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour (optional, use if you want firmer meatballs but they work fine without it)
- 6 cups tomato sauce (about 2 large cans)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice the stem end off of the spaghetti squash to make a flat surface. Turn it onto this end and rock a chef’s knife from the top end while pressing down to cut the squash into two halves.
- Scoop out the seeds and place cut side down onto a baking sheet.
- Bake squash until the skin indents lightly with the press of a finger. About 30-40 min depending on the size of your squash.
- While the squash is baking, place all meatball ingredients except the tomato sauce in a mixing bowl and mix with your hands. Really, it’s the easiest way to get it all mixed up.
- Form small balls with the meat mixture and place in a large saucepan.
- Pour tomato sauce over meatballs so they are all submerged and simmer covered for about 20 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through. They can continue to simmer longer than this if you’re waiting for the squash to finish.
- When spaghetti squash is tender, take it out of the oven and shred with a fork.
- Place spaghetti squash strands in a serving bowl and serve with meatballs and the tomato sauce overtop.
Notes:
This dish is also delicious with ½ cup grated manchego or parmesan cheese mixed into the meatballs. Or if you want to be extra fancy, tuck a small chunk of mozzarella into the inside of the meatball as you’re forming them for a tasty cheesy middle.
You can cook these meatballs in a crock pot as well. Place meatballs in crockpot and cover with tomato sauce. Cook 6-8 hours until they are cooked through.
More clean eating recipes:
