Spaghetti Squash & Sausage Easy Meal

First day of fall was Wednesday, which the calendar says like it's news. The mountains knew weeks ago. Betty knew weeks ago. I called her Sunday evening and she said the woolly worms in Evarts are dark this year, which means a hard winter, and I said that's an old wives' tale, and she said she is an old wife and she'll thank me to respect the tale. She sounded good — strong voice, sharp tongue, which at eighty-one is the only diagnostic tool I trust.

Work this week was steady — we're closing in on the last houses in the subdivision and the builder wants them dried in before October rain. I've got nineteen men and a deadline and a back that has its own opinions about both. I'm compensating — bending at the knees instead of the waist, letting the younger guys handle the low work, standing when I used to squat. Danny noticed. Danny notices everything and says nothing, which makes him the best kind of foreman's right hand. He took the ground-level framing without being asked. I owe him a beer and he knows it.

Amber called Tuesday to say she's been asked to precept nursing students at UK Hospital — train the new ones coming through clinical rotations. She's been a nurse for two years and they're already asking her to teach. I said that's because you're good, and she said it's because nobody else wants to do it, and I said those two things aren't mutually exclusive, and she laughed. She sounds like Betty when she laughs — that same note, somewhere between delight and defiance. I told Connie and Connie said I know, she texted me yesterday. I am always the last to know everything in this family.

Saturday was cooler — low seventies, the kind of day that begs for the grill. I did smoked pork steaks, which is a cut people outside the Midwest and border South don't know about. Bone-in pork shoulder steaks, about an inch thick, rubbed with salt and pepper and paprika and garlic powder, smoked over hickory at 275 for two hours until the fat renders and the edges crisp. Finish with a mop of vinegar and brown sugar. Serve with baked beans and coleslaw. It's a Saturday supper that costs twelve dollars and feeds four people and tastes like you spent all day on it, which you did, but the smoker did most of the work. The cook's job is patience and a thermometer. The fire does the rest.

The smoked pork steaks carried Saturday’s supper, but when the weather turns and the week has wrung you out — nineteen men, a deadline, a back with grievances — you want a second recipe in your pocket that asks almost nothing of you and still lands on the table like you meant every bit of it. This spaghetti squash and sausage meal is exactly that: autumnal without making a fuss about it, filling without weighing you down, and the kind of thing Connie can start while I’m still out by the smoker. It fits the same Saturday logic as the pork steaks — patient heat, simple seasoning, honest food.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 lb)
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed (mild or hot)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Roast the squash. Preheat oven to 400°F. Halve the spaghetti squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 35–40 minutes, until the flesh is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
Cook the sausage. While the squash roasts, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it into crumbles, until browned and cooked through, about 7–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.
Build the sauce. Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes if using. Season with salt and pepper. Return the sausage to the pan and stir to combine. Simmer 5 minutes.
Shred the squash. Once the squash is cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape the flesh into long strands directly into the skillet. Toss gently to combine everything together over low heat for 2 minutes.
Serve. Divide into bowls or onto plates. Top each serving with shredded Parmesan and a pinch of fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spaghetti Squash & Sausage Easy Meal — The Smoker Did the Heavy Lifting, So I Let the Oven Take Saturday Night