Vegetarian stuffed spaghetti squash

I'm at it again! New recipe time!  The recipe I made last night was sooo good.

Vegetarian chorizo stuffed spaghetti squash.  Since I don't eat meat, and my husband does, sometimes we compromise by making a recipe that includes fake meat.  This bad boy is made with tofurky brand chorizo. 

So how did I make it?  Preheat the oven to 350, and cook the solid spaghetti squash for 45 minutes.  These things are so tough to cut, that I always bake them for a good while before I even attempt to stick a knife in them.  I've read recipe after recipe to cut them first.  Yeah, right. If you can cut open a raw spaghetti squash, I commend you.  I will always cook them first.

 

Once you get the thing cooked, scrape out all the junk in the center.  You want to get rid of all the seeds.  Once the seeds are gone, don't get rid of any of the spaghetti strings! You're going to need them! That's the good stuff.

In the mean time, I sauteed my yellow bell pepper and onion in a pan with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

 

 

After about 10 minutes, I added the Veggie-Chorizo (This can be made with regular chorizo as well), garlic, and spices.  I'll include the ingredients at the bottom of this post.

 

Saute that mixture for about 10 minutes as well, and then add the diced tomatoes.  Once the spaghetti squash is cooked through (after the 45 mins are up) you can go ahead and apply the strings to this mixture.  Mix it up really good, then put it back in the shells, mounding it up, apply cheese to the top, and stick it back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Then... ENJOY!

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1 pkg Tofurky Chorizo
• 2 t cumin
• 2 t oregano
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (or cheese of your choice)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the spaghetti squash for 45 minutes until the squash is soft and squishy.   Once it's cooked through, cut in half and pulled the seeds out.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  When the oil is hot add the onion and pepper and sauté for 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and sausage and all the spices and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and keep the mixture on low heat until the spaghetti squash is ready.
5. When the squash is done use a fork to take out the strands, leaving the shells behind.
6. Stir the spaghetti squash strands into the mixture in the skillet.  Then spoon it all back into the spaghetti squash shell, mounding it up so it all fits.
7. Top the squash halves with cheddar cheese, and put it back into the oven for 10-15 minutes to bake.