Spaghetti Squash Pasta

Not the same as pasta, but pretty dang yummy!

Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Parmesan Meatballs
recipe not adapted from a website. something i've wanted to do for a while.

Yield: 4 servings

Notes from Marie: 
 - This is not the same as pasta, obviously, but it's a pretty decent substitute.
 - You can do any toppings you would like. I just picked these because I thought they sounded yummy!
 - I always use my pastas as a "Let's clean out the fridge" day too. So the toppings I have aren't necessarily what you need to put in yours. Go through your fridge and use any vegetables that might go bad soon and voila! Pasta toppings!

Ingredients:
1 whole Spaghetti Squash (They look like really fat Yellow Squash, fyi!)
Marinara Sauce (from the Introduction page)
1 medium Red Onion, sliced
1 whole fennel bulb, thinly sliced (leftover from my Asian vegetables)
2 leeks, thinly sliced (also leftover from my Asian vegetables)
6 mushroom (also leftover from my Asian vegetables)
1lb ground pork
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Italian Mix Cheese

Seasonings:
Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Minced Garlic
Italian Seasonings (from Chicken roll ups recipe)

Directions:
1) Turn the oven on 425.
2) Cut the Spaghetti Squash in half. Warning: this is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Be sure you have a really sharp knife and make sure its long! I typically force the knife into the middle and then force it around in a circle. I find that the easiest way to do this. I will take a picture next time (which will be really soon!)
3) Scrape the seeds out of the center. This is just like a pumpkin (hooray for Halloween year round! lol!) Be sure to get all the seeds out!
4) Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place the halves on it. Be sure to place them meat up! Drizzle olive oil over the squash and season with salt and pepper.
5) Cook for approximately 30 minutes. Then put on a plate and put in the fridge. Leave the oven door cracked, and drop your temp to 350. If you don't leave the door cracked, your oven will never cool down in enough time.
6) While the squash is cooking (about 10 minutes), dump your pork into a bowl. Mix in 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp Italian Seasonings and 1 egg. Mix well.7) Form those into meatballs and put in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.
8) While meatballs are cooking, put a saute pan on medium heat on the stove with oil.
9) Add 1 tsbp of garlic and let cook for about a minute. Then dump in all your vegetables.10) Pull the spaghetti squash out of the fridge.
11) Take a fork and separate the strands from the flesh. Flip the fork with the inside facing down and lightly scrap the flesh towards the inside of the squash. I'll take a picture of this next time too! Do this all the way around until all the flesh is off the squash. Referring to it as flesh is strange... But I'm not sure what else to call it! Do this on both sides.
12) Put the spaghetti squash strands in the bowl and toss with some marinara. Toss in the sauteed veggies (hope you didn't forget about them!) and mix well.
13) By this point the meatballs should be done. Take them out of the oven and let cool.
14) Put the squash and veggie mixture into bowls and put meatballs on top. Sprinkle Italian Cheese mix on top. 
15) Enjoy! 
 
Next time I make this:
 - I might use a different meat on the meatballs. I was thinking turkey next time.

I hope you like this recipe. If you have you own ideas and improvements to them, just comment so I can try them myself! :)