Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Do you ever see a beautiful photo of food and want to make that dish? That happened to me when I saw Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Pastured Bacon, Garlic and Sage (Dairy Free) on Foodgawker posted by Jody Engstrom from her blog, Living Nutrition. It made me think of the Japanese word "oishisou" (that looks delicious). Go ahead, click through to her post and see what I mean. Doesn't that look delicious?!

I've had a spaghetti squash sitting in a wire basket in my kitchen for about...ah...two months. They last a long time. When I saw the photo--that's when I finally decided what I was going to make with it. It's a simple recipe, doesn't have a lot of ingredients--and resist the temptation to add butter or parmesan cheese--it doesn't need it. Really!

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved
4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)
1/2 diced sweet onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon, scraping out most of the fine strings.

Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. I like to chop the bacon first, then fry it. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic.

This is fresh sage. Remove the leaves and mince enough to measure 1 tablespoon.

I've got sage growing on a mound of dirt in my front yard under my pine tree. Looking at this photo reminds me I need to get out there and clean up my herb garden. I've got paperwhite narcissus growing there amongst the herbs and I've been trying to weed them out--but they keep coming back.

When the squash is tender and it has cooled a bit, scoop the meat of the squash into a large bowl. I first used a fork to separate the strings of the squash to turn them into 'spaghetti'.

This is why they call it spaghetti squash!

This is the coconut milk I bought. I like to have some in the pantry--it comes in handy. I think it's best to find one without a lot of extra added ingredients. This one just listed coconut and water.

Pour the coconut milk into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well. I added a little more coconut milk to moisten the mixture because I thought it was a little dry, but I think it would be just fine to add a little water since the coconut milk is so rich. No sense in opening another can/box like I did--this time.

Mix well and pour into a baking dish (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and bake at 400 for 50 min-1 hour, or until browned on top.

I saved a little bit of the bacon to sprinkle on top and so my bacon lovers can add a little bit more to their serving.

I have to say--this dish was delicious! I too, have just had spaghetti squash with marinara--not something I get excited about--but I really liked it in this casserole. Take a look at the other recipes on mylivingnutrition.com. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the breakfast frittata in a jar that I've been wanting to try is from the same website. I'm excited to try something else--there's so much that looks delicious as well as being healthy!

Itadakimasu!

***

When I was making this dish, I thought of my friend Jen, thinking--she's really going to like this! She likes to eat healthy and clean. She has a spaghetti squash recipe she cooks in the crock pot.

Jen's also an athlete. She recently ran a half-marathon!

Remember Jen & Bobby? You saw them in my Takikomi Brown Rice post--they're part of my friend Sue's family.

Last year, at about this time, they were visiting from North Carolina for Rick & Jessica's wedding. Bobby was coaching football at a college there, and now their family is back here living in Southern California. We're all happy to have them back! 

Look how much Payton & Avery have grown!

Now Bobby is coaching football and basketball at Victor Valley College. It doesn't seem so long ago that Bobby was playing basketball with my son Rick.

Take a lot of pictures--they grow up fast!

***

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved

4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)

1/2 diced sweet onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

2. While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic. Cook the onions and garlic until translucent.

3. Chop bacon and set aside. (Omit if you chopped your bacon before cooking.)

4. When squash has cooled, using a fork, string the spaghetti squash and put into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

5. Bake at 400ºF for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until browned on top.

Moussaka

My family loves eggplant.

This is my first time making Moussaka. We usually have eggplant grilled on the barbecue or pan fried adding a bit of teriyaki sauce at the end that gives it a nice flavor. Since eggplant can soak up a lot of oil, we brush it with a little olive oil on each side before cooking to control the amount of oil it absorbs, which seems to work for us--very simple. Moussaka takes a bit more work, but I think it's well worth it!

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light with the addition of a puff pastry crust, an idea from my son Rick, reminiscent of the moussaka he ate on vacation a few years ago in Greece. The puff pastry makes the casserole pretty, too.

 This recipe is also vegetarian, but can easily be adapted for omnivores by the addition of ground meat. The bulgur wheat in the recipe gives the casserole the appearance of containing ground meat, and the same mouth-feel. I think I'll be trying different recipes using it--my first thought is to add it to meatloaf to save  money as a meat extender, and also for added nutrition.

 The puff pastry was really good--so flaky.

Vegetarian Moussaka

Adapted from Cooking Light--the recipe says it serves 4, but could serve 6 easily

Ingredients:

3 peeled large eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

cooking spray

2 cups chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup uncooked bulgur

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch ground nutmeg

2 cups organic vegetable broth

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh Romano cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

 Peel and slice the eggplants, putting the slices into a large bowl of water. My husband's grandmother told me to always soak the eggplant in water with a pinch of salt to extract any bitterness. I think it also makes it so the eggplant doesn't absorb as much oil.

Preheat the broiler to high, adjusting the rack so the eggplant will be about 5 inches from the heat.

Brush the eggplant lightly with olive oil on both sides, place onto a baking sheet and broil for about 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Set aside.

 Zip the fresh oregano leaves off the stems and roughly chop. Measure 1/2 cup bulgur wheat. It doesn't look like much, but it will expand. My husband thought the casserole contained ground turkey since it tasted light.

 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add onions and saute until the onions are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute more, stir in bulgur and cook 3 minutes or until bulgur is lightly toasted, combine well. Add cinnamon, cloves and pinch nutmeg, cook 1 minute more stirring constantly. Add broth, oregano and tomatoes. chopping the tomatoes with spoon if necessary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until bulgur absorbs the broth, stirring occasionally.

 The recipe in Cooking Light has a topping of béchamel sauce--a creamy white sauce made with butter, flour and milk. According to Wikipedia, this is the traditional Greek version, but when my son visited Greece, he thought he had it with a pastry crust. I put the crust on top of the white sauce.

Make the white sauce by melting a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons flour and combine well with a whisk. While constantly stirring, add 1 cup milk, a little at a time. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Stir in grated Romano cheese and salt.

 Let the white sauce cool a little, then add the lightly beaten egg and mix well.

 Preheat oven to 350ºF and assemble the casserole by arranging 1/2 the broiled eggplant on the bottom of a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread bulgur-tomato mixture over eggplant and repeat for a second layer. Top with white sauce and spread evenly. I used a 9 x 11 inch dish, the recipe in Cooking Light uses an 11 x 7 dish. If using 9 x 11, you may want to double the white sauce if you're not using the puff pastry top,  you'll want the white sauce to be thick, but more about that later.

 Roll out one sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry on a well floured surface until about the size of your casserole dish. Place pastry on top, folding under edges to fit if necessary. Cut 4 small slits in the crust with a sharp knife and brush pastry with a lightly beaten egg or milk so the crust will brown nicely. 

Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes, or until top is nicely browned.

 Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.

 Garnish with oregano leaves or flat-leafed parsley.

 I just may need to keep a box of puff pastry in my freezer at all times!

Itadakimasu!


Rick's randomly choosing the Giveaway winners today, they'll be posted tomorrow!

Happy Lunar New Year--Year of the Dragon!

***

 This is the Moussaka Rick ate in Greece.

 To me, it looks like the 'crust' could be a thick layer of the traditional Greek white sauce mixed with eggs to make it like a custard, then browned. That makes sense because that would be the traditional Greek way of preparing it, not with a pastry crust. Now that I know more about Moussaka, the layer of white sauce on top should be thick--maybe I'll triple the amount in the recipe next time. But then--the puff pastry was so good, maybe leave the white sauce out altogether--Ahhh, decisions, decisions!

 Rick said Gary and I would like to visit Santorini.

 Whenever I see Santorini in movies, I think of Rick and his travel there.

 I liked this photo he took so much, I had it printed on canvas.

 This photo is one of my favorites too.

 I used it for the cover of a photo book I made of his trip.

 Here's the page with the picture of the moussaka.

Rick kept a journal of his travels and I included excerpts of his observations in the book. Reading the journal made me feel like I got to go along too, he wrote so many small details of the sights, sounds and foods of Europe, as well as his feelings along the way.

"For dinner we went to the recommended Naoussa. I ordered Moussaka because Karen wants me to go outside my box. I'm not quite sure if that qualifies, but it's a start."

 I really liked this photo because my Uncle Kats used to do this in pictures too. You can see it in my Creamed Eggs on Toast post after the recipe.

Rick took some amazing photos with a point-and-shoot camera. I think he's got a good eye for composition.

A journal entry: 

"Tonight's dinner was wonderful. Maybe the best I've had thus far. We walked away from San Marcos & found a few restaurants. I ordered spaghetti with seafood. Delicious. The stock market is having a really rough time back home. I'm not as much nervous about it as I miss it. I miss baseball a bunch too. Not so much my fantasy team, I just want to watch a Red Sox game on TV."

 I really like this one because it reminds me of the time Rick and I went to the Getty Museum and sat in front of a beautiful painting of Venice's Grand Canal for a long time and admired its beauty.

 Rick took lots of photos of food--sometimes he would be hungry and start eating only to stop and take a picture to show us at home.

I really liked this map feature iPhoto books had when I made the book in 2009. Throughout the book, as he entered another country, I could include a small map of that day's travel, and then this big map at the end.

Here's Rick with Karen and his cousins welcoming him home.

Someone at the airport asked Beeto if they could rent her sign since they were also welcoming home someone named Rick.

This is the journal Rick took on his trip to Europe.

Karen gave it to him with an inscription so he could record:

"... THE MOST AMAZING sights in the entire world...

The little details are what will make the memories last your whole life."

***

Vegetarian Moussaka

Adapted from Cooking Light--the recipe says it serves 4

Ingredients:

3 peeled large eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

cooking spray

2 cups chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup uncooked bulgur

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch ground nutmeg

2 cups organic vegetable broth

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh Romano cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

Peel and slice the eggplants, putting the slices into a large bowl of water. Preheat the broiler to high, adjusting the rack to the highest level, so it's about 5 inches from the heat. Brush the eggplant lightly with olive oil on both sides, place onto a baking sheet and broil for about 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Set aside.

 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add onions and saute until the onions are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute more, stir in bulgur and cook 3 minutes or until bulgur is lightly toasted, combine well. Add cinnamon, cloves and pinch nutmeg, cook 1 minute more stirring constantly. Add broth, oregano and tomatoes. chopping the tomatoes with spoon if necessary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until bulgur absorbs the broth, stirring occasionally.

Make the white sauce by melting a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons flour and combine well with a whisk. While constantly stirring, add 1 cup milk, a little at a time. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Stir in grated Romano cheese and salt.  Let the white sauce cool a little, then add the lightly beaten egg and mix well.

Preheat oven to 350ºF and assemble the casserole by arranging 1/2 the broiled eggplant on the bottom of a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Spread bulgur-tomato mixture over eggplant and repeat for a second layer. Top with white sauce and spread evenly.

Roll out one sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry on a well floured surface until about the size of your casserole dish. Place pastry on top, folding under edges to fit if necessary. Cut 4 small slits in the crust with a sharp knife and brush pastry with a lightly beaten egg or milk so the crust will brown nicely.

Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes or until top is nicely browned. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Guest Blogger: Mitchell's Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Happy New Year everyone!

Today, while we are busy in the kitchen with mochi and nishime for New Year's Day, we have a Guest Blogger!

Mitchell's Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole!


***

Being my first Christmas away from the Spearrin ranch in Florida, the Fujimotos happily welcomed a few Spearrin-family Christmas traditions to help make me feel at home.

A pillar of the Spearrin-family Christmas is a brunch on Christmas morning, where family members each bring a signature dish.

My signature dish is the Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole, so this year I made it at the Fujimotos on Christmas eve, as the name suggests, and we cooked it on Christmas morning.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean or similar)
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)
1 1/2 cups Milk
6 slices Bread
6 Eggs (large)
1 tsp. Dry Mustard (optional)

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare, but less time if you have helpers. Gary and Karolyn helped me so the prep was only about 20 minutes.

Start by lightly greasing a casserole dish (9" x 13" is ideal) with Crisco or butter. Then cube the bread and spread it evenly in the bottom of the dish.

Pan-fry the sausage to a nice brown. The sausage can be slightly under-cooked since it will cook again in the oven. Gary handled this step.

Drain the fat from the sausage and then empty the pan onto a plate with a few paper-towels. The paper-towels will soak up more of the grease.

Add the eggs, milk, and dry mustard to a mixing bowl.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Beat/whisk well like scrambled eggs.

Now everything is ready to be combined. It goes quickly from here.

Take the crumbled sausage and spread evenly over the bread in the casserole dish.

Sprinkle the cheese over the sausage.

I like to go heavy on the cheese, maybe an extra 1/4 cup.

Now just pour the egg mix evenly over the cheese and sausage.

And you're done.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to eat, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

_______________________________

Karolyn seems to think that every recipe/dish comes with a story, and this is no exception.

I can't take credit for the breakfast casserole recipe. It comes from one of my favorite grade-school teachers, Mary Jane Cushman. She's in the red shirt below with a few of my 7th grade classmates (Justin, Joey, Tres, and Laura).

She taught my social studies/history classes from 6th-12th grade. In middle school, I always had Mrs. Cushman for 1st period, so on the last day of classes before Christmas break, she would bring in a breakfast for the students, and this dish way my favorite.

I asked Mrs. Cushman for the recipe after I left middle school and started making it for my family Christmas morning, so I guess that means I've been making it about 12 years now.

Mrs. Cushman passed away last February. She will be remembered by her students for the kindness, patience, and joy she brought to the classroom. She also let us get to know her outside of the classroom.

Each summer, Mrs. Cushman hosted a beach/pool party at her home in Fernandina Beach, FL. I think the photo above is from 6th grade (my mom dug it out of an album).

Since she worked in the gifted program and taught only a small number of students in this program all the way through middle and high school, we came to think of her as much a friend and mentor as a teacher. She is missed by many. I always think of her when I make this dish.

***

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean or similar)

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)

1 1/2 cup Milk

6 slices Bread

6 Eggs (large)

1 tsp. Dry Mustard (optional)

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare, but less time if you have helpers. Gary and Karolyn helped me so the prep was only about 20 minutes.

Start by lightly greasing a casserole dish (9" x 13" is ideal) with Crisco or butter. Then cube the bread and spread it evenly in the bottom of the dish.

Pan-fry the sausage to a nice brown. The sausage can be slightly under-cooked since it will cook again in the oven. Drain the fat from the sausage and then empty the pan onto a plate with a few paper-towels. The paper-towels will soak up more of the grease.

Add the eggs, milk, and dry mustard to a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Beat/whisk well like scrambled eggs.

Take the crumbled sausage and spread evenly over the bread in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the sausage. pour the egg mix evenly over the cheese and sausage.

Cover the dish will plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to eat, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.