ever want a big bowl of pasta and meatballs, but don't want that big gut bomb afterwards? you know what i'm talking about, don't you? i love, love, love pasta, but try to be sensible about it. i have pretty much switched over completely to whole wheat, and i almost never use anything other than my homemade tomato sauce, or a simple olive oil and garlic mixture. never a cream based sauce. don't get me wrong, i adore cream sauces, so much so i practically lick my plate clean. but, i have noticed as i age, it just doesn't come off like it used to. damn aging. i made this the other night for my clients and they all loved it. like me, my clients like to eat clean and simple foods. i rarely ever cook pasta for them, so this was quite a joy for them when i showed up, with what looked like, a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs! a few (the kids) were a bit skeptical about eating squash, but they actually really liked it. i started by making a big batch of tomato sauce. saute one small diced onion, and 3 gloves of garlic in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, for 10 minutes or so. then add one diced celery stalk, one diced carrot, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. once all the vegetables are nice and soft, add (2) 32oz cans of whole, peeled tomatoes, 6 basil leaves, about 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, and 2 bay leaves. cover and simmer for 1 hour. in the meantime, cut one spaghetti squash in half, horizontally, and scoop out the seeds. drizzle a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper on the flesh. place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. once cool enough to handle, grab a fork and scrape out the strands into a bowl. there you have it . . a bowl of look-alike pasta! once the tomato sauce has cooked for an hour, remove the bay leaves and pour sauce into a blender. blend until smooth. be careful and not over fill the blender, do this in stages. also, be careful when blending hot liquids - trust me on this one, it will explode in your face. been there, done that. my turkey meatballs are made with 1 pound of ground turkey (not breast- it's too dry), 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, 2 garlic gloves, 1/4 grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, 1 tablespoon of italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. that's it, you can make yourself a delicious, healthy, figure friendly meal this weekend. have a good one, see you monday!
