NuM NuM

Holy mole, I just prepared the quickest dinner of my life and it was DELICIOUS! I don't know what I'm more excited about. The fact that it was so quick and yummy, OR that I successfully made ground turkey taste like spicy Italian sausage without a recipe. NO RECIPE PEOPLE....this coming from the woman who permanently has recipes and measuring spoons glued to her hip. Either way, LOVE IT...LOVE THIS DISH!!! Again, not to sound like Rainman but I can't believe how fantastic this meal turned out and it was so easy to prepare. I think I appreciate it even more b/c I've slaved away in the kitchen for countless hours on end trying to make an outrageously fancy meal and here this dish literally took me about 15 minutes - minus the time it took me to roast the squash which I practically just threw in the oven. I'd also never cooked with spaghetti squash before but it's the greatest veggie EVER. SO HEALTHY!!! I don't think I'll ever have to eat spaghetti noodles again. Try this...it's YUM-MAY!

*Sorry for the "recipe." I hate it when people don't have exact measurements but I tried to explain how I made it as best I could. But really, if I can do it...anyone can :)


Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage with Spaghetti Squash
A NuM NuM original recipe
2 servings

Spaghetti Squash* (1 to 2 lbs)
Ground Turkey (Jennie O 93/7% lean)
Fennel seeds
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Classico Tomato Basil Sauce (or your favorite tomato sauce)

Directions
For the squash:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Cut squash in half starting from the stem and scoop out seeds and stringy parts, drizzle with olive oil or PAM and sprinkle with S&P. Roast cut side down on oiled baking sheet for 45 minutes or until a knife can easily pierce through the skin (top and sides of squash) Once squash has cooled take a fork and begin to remove flesh from skin. (Be careful not to pierce through the skin since you will be using them as eating vessels for presentation. If not, then you can serve them out of a dish) I find moving the fork from side to side makes prettier strands versus from stem to bottom. They should start to look like "noodles" Reserve shells of squash for later.

For the turkey sausage:
Turn burner on to medium high heat. Drizzle olive oil and toast fennel seeds (I think I eyeballed how much would cover 1/2 the surface of the ground turkey) and red pepper flakes (I would put however spicy you like it since you can always add more in the end) until fragrant with a little bit of olive oil. Once fragrant add turkey on top of spices and do not move it until nice and caramelized on the bottom. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion over the entire surface of turkey. Sprinkle basil (I would say add about half the amount of basil as you did of the garlic powder) then add oregano (add half amount of oregano as you did of the basil) Once turkey is nice and brown on the bottom flip it over then break into chunks with spatula. Soon as it is almost done cooking taste and adjust seasonings. Turkey must be cooked all the way through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Using the same pan you used to cook the turkey, place the spaghetti squash strands and however much tomato sauce you think you need to just coat the "noodles" and cook until everything is heated through. You don't want to drown the noodles in the sauce. Remove pan from stove and place noodles inside the now empty spaghetti squash halves and top with turkey. Garnish with parmesan cheese if you like. ENJOY. NUM!

*Larger spaghetti squash are more flavorful then smaller ones and you want to pick ones that are more yellow then white colored. Available year around but their peak season is fall through winter.