Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs

Thursday night family dinner, 5:40 PM, 2/23/23: Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs!

This meal is my homemade, gluten-free, un-processed version of pasta with meatballs.

Ingredients:

Meatballs–
1lb butchers grind (beef liver/heart/kidney)
1lb ground beef
2 TBSP grass-fed, cultured butter
2 whole eggs
½ cup raw parmesan cheese
½ cup yellow onions, minced
2tsp garlic, minced
1tsp of Italian seasoning
2tsp microplastic-free kosher salt
1tsp freshly ground pepper

Pasta Sauce-
2x 24oz cans of organic tomato sauce
¼ cup grass-fed, cultured butter
½ cup yellow onions, minced
2tsp minced garlic
2tsp microplastic-free kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Spaghetti Squash-
1x spaghetti squash
¼ cup grass-fed, cultured butter, melted
Microplastic-free kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

Spaghetti Squash

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Melt butter
• Cut squash in half, lengthwise, brush butter all over, and season with salt and pepper
• Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, you should easily pull it apart with a fork when done

Tomato Sauce

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant
• Stir in the tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered, with lid slightly ajar to prevent splattering until meatballs are ready to be added, occasionally stirring—season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meatballs

• Begin heating cast iron over medium-low heat.
• Add the ground beef, eggs, parmesan cheese, minced onion, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic in a large bowl. Hand-mix thoroughly until combined.
• Measure and roll the ground beef mixture into balls, about the size of an egg. There should be about 15 meatballs.
• Add butter to skillet, once melted add half of the meatballs and brown all over, repeat for the second batch.
• Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar, and simmer on low heat for at least 1 hour, checking and stirring every 20 minutes, or as needed. The meatballs should be fork-tender when sliced.

Serve meatballs with spaghetti squash topped with sauce, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Prep time: 20 min total; 5 min to prep spaghetti squash, 5 min to chop onions and garlic, 10 min to combine all meatball ingredients

Cook time: 45 min for spaghetti squash, 15 min for meatballs on cast iron, 10 min for sauce, and 1 hour for the sauce with meatballs

Total cost: ~$25 total; $16 total for ground meats, $2 for spaghetti squash, $4 for sauce, ~$3 for everything else

The dish was gluten-free, seed oil-free, sugar-free, grain-free, and nut-free. All proteins were from pastured animals.

The whole family was served the same dish, with raw milk, including both of our <3y old kids. Added blueberries with honey on the side for everyone. I deconstructed it for the kids, so it was easy to eat. They were initially skeptical but ate a fair share of the meal. My mom was here for it, and she approved #grandmaapproved. Obviously, all of us adults crushed it.