Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce -- The Last of the Summer Tomatoes

The first day of August arrived with the kind of heat that sits on you like a wet blanket and doesn't apologize. I got up before five to run irrigation lines along the back edge of the garden before the sun had a chance to punish me for it. The tomatoes were heavy—Cherokee Purples, Brandywines, a row of small yellow pear tomatoes Lily planted because she thought they were pretty. She was right. By seven I had a colander full of them and was standing at the kitchen sink eating the yellow ones like candy, still warm from the vine.

Hannah came downstairs around eight with Kai trailing behind her still half asleep, hair sticking up in four directions. She made him a plate of sliced tomatoes with salt and a piece of toast and he ate it without complaint, which in six-year-old terms is basically a standing ovation. She asked me if I wanted coffee and I said yes and for a while we just sat at the table in the quiet morning and didn't need to talk about anything at all.

That kind of morning used to happen more when Danny was alive. We'd all end up in his kitchen without really meaning to—someone just drifted over, then someone else, and before long the whole family was sitting around his table eating whatever he'd pulled out of his garden. His place was the center of gravity. Now we'd had to find our own orbits, which sounds harder than it is but still takes time to get used to.

In the afternoon I drove over to Caleb's to check on him. He'd been talking lately about wanting to put in a fall garden—turnips, collards, maybe some spinach—and I figured I could help him turn the bed. We worked for about two hours in the back of his lot, breaking up the hard summer soil, pulling out the old dried bean vines from earlier in the season. He talked while we worked. Not about anything heavy. Just about a song he'd heard at stomp dance the week before, about a game he'd been watching, about whether turnip greens were better with ham hock or bacon.

I said ham hock, same as Danny always said. Caleb laughed and said Danny was probably right about that. It was the easiest we'd talked about him in months.

That night I cooked down the rest of the tomatoes with garlic and dried chile into a simple sauce and put it over pasta. Nothing complicated. Just good summer food before the season turns.

That night’s sauce started with everything left in the colander—the Cherokee Purples that had gotten too soft to eat off the vine, a handful of Brandywines, the last of the garlic braided by the back door. I wanted something that used what the garden had actually given me, nothing bought, nothing complicated. Spaghetti squash with meat sauce felt right: the kind of dish that takes a little time but doesn’t ask much of you while it’s cooking, which was about what I had left to give after the week of it. It’s the meal I’ll make again the first cold weekend of fall, and probably think of Danny both times.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef (or Italian sausage)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (or one 14 oz can crushed tomatoes)
• 1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Grated Parmesan, for serving

Instructions

1. 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 baking sheet and roast for 35–40 minutes, until the flesh is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
2. Brown the meat. While the squash roasts, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until browned through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
3. Build the sauce. Push the meat to one side of the skillet. Add the onion to the cleared space and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more, stirring everything together.
4. Simmer. Add the chopped fresh tomatoes and tomato sauce to the skillet. Stir in oregano and basil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer uncovered for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened and fragrant.
5. Shred the squash. When the squash is done, flip the halves over and use a fork to scrape the flesh into long strands. Transfer the strands to a serving bowl or directly onto plates.
6. Serve. Spoon the meat sauce generously over the spaghetti squash strands. Top with grated Parmesan and an extra pinch of red pepper flakes if you like a little heat.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 380 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 520mg