Tasty Tuesday: Italian Turkey and Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Total Time: 1:18  Prep: 0:18 minutes  Cook: 1:00  Serves: 6  Difficulty:  Moderate (probably because of the squash prep)

• 1 medium uncooked spaghetti squash
• ¹⁄₂ pound uncooked ground turkey breast
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small uncooked onion, chopped
• 1 clove, medium garlic clove, minced
• 29 oz canned diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning, or more to taste
• 6 oz fat-free ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 spray cooking spray, nonstick
• ¹⁄₂ cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese

When Brennyn and I went shopping for the ingredients, we couldn’t find fat-free ricotta so used whole milk (heavens!) ricotta instead.  I will keep an eye open for fat-free or skim to have on hand for next time.  So our version, while most delicious, was decidedly less WW friendly.  A 1/2 cup of fat-free ricotta is 2 points, part-skim is 5 points and whole milk ricotta is 8 points.  But so good.

Directions

Before we get to the play-by-play (been watching too much football), want to share a video we used on making the spaghetti squash easier to cut.  Right out of the frig, I began attacking ours with a knife.  Couldn’t make a dent in the thing.  Blamed our dull knives.  But my wise daughter came to the rescue explaining that these veggies (or are they fruit?) when raw are very difficult to cut.  We found this YouTube video on how to soften the squash before attempting to cut it.  Very useful.  I am sure it kept me out of the emergency room!

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Soften whole squash in microwave for several minutes (see video above).

• Halve squash lengthwise; scoop out seeds.

• Place squash, flat cut sides down, in a large baking dish and prick skin all over with a fork.
• Add just a little water to cover the bottom of the baking dish.
• Bake until tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.

• Meanwhile, cook turkey, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.

• Drain, remove from skillet and set aside (I use 99% lean turkey so there’s nothing to drain!).
• In a same skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add onion and garlic; saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil.

• Reduce heat; add back the cooked turkey and simmer, stirring often, until desired consistency, about 5 minutes.
• Place ricotta and egg in a food processor or blender; puree until smooth (not going to dirty the blender for this; whisked it in a bowl).

• Coat a 9″ x 9″ baking dish with cooking spray.
• Remove squash from oven and increase oven temperature to 375ºF.
• Using a fork, carefully rake stringy squash pulp from shell, separating it into strands that look like spaghetti.

• Arrange spaghetti squash strands in bottom and up sides of casserole to form a crust (I sprinkled with fat-free Parmesan cheese).

• Add ricotta cheese mixture and gently spread over squash.

• Pour tomato-turkey sauce over cheese mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella.

• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 6 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Mamma mia, seeing this photo makes me hungry to have it all over again.  Mmmm, cheesy, tomatoey goodness.  PC says that he would have preferred not knowing the ‘pasta’ was squash and not some crazy kind of spaghetti. Next time, I will hide the evidence.

Best of all, when made with the fat-free ricotta and mozzarella, one slice is 6 Freestyle Weight Watchers points.  What???  You can breathe air for much less than that.  Heck, the only thing less is a glass of water!

We added a bag of Thai salad mix and fresh strawberries with ‘fluff’ to dip them in.  Find the Thai salad mix at Wal-Mart and mix up the fluff by combining (more or less) equal amounts of marshmallow cream and fat-free cream cheese.  Blend with a fork or mixer until fluffy and smooth.

Yes, I do realize I used whipped original cream cheese (not fat-free) in the photo.  Just went with what I had in the frig.  This fluff is just as delish either way.  I promise!

Your Turn

Have you ever prepared spaghetti squash?  If so, won’t you share your recipe in a comment below?  I think spaghetti squash and I are going to enjoy a long-term relationship.  This was so scrumptious.  Actually, even more flavorful the next day!  Please let me know if you try it.

Planning to share a Weight Watchers butternut squash soup recipe in the next few days.  My wellness goals include being more mindful of Weight Watchers points and cooking dinner 5X a week.  Plus one of my winter bucket list activities is to try 5 new Weight Watchers recipes.  The pressure is on!

My sister is off tomorrow (Tuesday) for a rare snow day in Houston and we plan to Skrype (scrapbook and Skype) to our hearts’ content.  Hope you build some fun in your day, too!  Thank you for visiting.

Hugs and kisses,