Parmesan Spaghetti Squash Casserole Recipe

Now I know you’re looking at that picture up there and thinking there’s no way that’s going to be easy to make. It looks fancy. It looks artsy. They even did that thing with the sauce on the plate.

But this casserole is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make. Yeah there are, like, nine parts to it and it will take, like, two whole hours altogether, but it’ll also be the sexiest thing you can put on a plate for less than $20 that will impress your entire family and withstand your munchies the next day. The macros are great, the taste is to die for, and making an adult version is as easy as adding some AVB.

So are you going to sit and stare, or can we get started?

Necessary Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 4-6 cups cheddar cheese (depending on preferences)
• 2 large eggs
• 16 oz ground sausage
• 1 cup Parmesan
• 1/2-1 cup garlic bread crumbs or similar
• 3 dashes rosemary
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder

Directions

Preparing The Squash

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Split the squash lengthwise and clean it
3. Prick the outside of the squash thoroughly with a fork, and coat the inside with butter
4. Cook face-down on a cookie sheet for 20-40 minutes, depending on desired texture.

Preparing the ingredients

1. While the squash is cooking, brown the ground sausage in a skillet. Remember to rinse and drain the meat. Season to taste. Set aside to cool.
2. Set aside a large bowl and a greased glass baking dish. Prepare your work space; the squash is going to be hot when it comes out of the oven

Assembling the Casserole

1. Pull the squash out of the oven and test firmness with a hardy spoon; the longer it cooks, the softer the ‘noodles’ will be
2. Scrape the meat of the squash into the large bowl set aside in part two. Hold the squash with an oven mitt that you don’t mind getting dirty.
3. You should be able to scrape the squash all the way down to the rind. It works best if you scrape against the ‘grain’ of the ‘noodles.’
4. Add 2/3 of the meat, 2 eggs, spices, 2 cups of cheese, and crumbs to taste. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour roughly a third of the mixture into your mixing bowl, and add a layer of meat, cheese, and bread crumbs. Go totally overboard with the cheese if you like waistband-killing lasagnas as much as I do.
6. Repeat the prior step, adding two more layers of the mixture. Add slightly more crumbs to the top to develop a hardy crust.

Baking

1. Bake for 40-60 minutes, depending on desired texture. If you’re going for an egg strata-like dish, leave it in for the full 60 minutes.
2. Near to the end of the bake time, turn on the broiler briefly (or pull it out and use a hand torch) to crisp the crust.
3. Remove the casserole from the oven, cut, and serve with Parmesan and hot sauce.