Spaghetti Squash, Sage-Butter and Sausage Casserole

I have a knack for taking awesome healthy ingredients and making them taste good. Don’t be confused, they are no longer healthy when I am done with them.

This dish is freaking amazing. It makes a lot and I didn’t get sick of eating it all week. I took a nice, healthy spaghetti squash and made it taste like autumn-heaven. I cooked up sausage and mushrooms and tossed it all together with sage-brown butter. Have you had sage-brown butter? Freaking crack, is what it is. Then I covered the whole thing in gruyere and baked it.

I posted a picture to this recipe on Twitter after I made it. One of my favorite followers said, “Don’t you eat anything without cheese?” No. No sir, why would i?

Actually, when I was originally planning this recipe, I did not plan on covering it in cheese. It doesn’t really need it, so you COULD omit it. But just because a recipe doesn’t need cheese, doesn’t mean it doesn’t want cheese. This recipe wanted it, it wanted it bad… and baby, it got it.

So if you want a nice, warm, hearty casserole recipe that put some meat on your bones, make this. It’s freaking awesome.

Spaghetti Squash, Sage & Sausage Casserole

Spaghetti Squash, Sage-Butter & Sausage Casserole
1 spaghetti squash
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lb. hot turkey sausage
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 large shallot, diced
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fresh sage leaves, diced
1 ½ cups shredded gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Slice the spaghetti squash in half. (Use a sharp knife.) Scoop out the seeds and place cut-side-up in a baking dish. drizzle liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Pull out of the oven (leaving the oven on) and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Remove sausage from casing and break up in the skillet. Cook until… cooked. (12-15 minutes.) Remove sausage with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.

Drain grease from skillet (but don’t clean it). Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and add mushrooms and shallot. Cook for 8-10 minutes until yummy looking. Remove with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the sausage.

Return skillet to stove. Melt butter into it. Stir frequently. The butter will melt down and get foamy. Keep cooking it. Once it starts to get brown and nutty-smelling, stir in the fresh sage. Pour over the sausage, mushrooms and shallot.

Once your spaghetti squash is cool enough to touch, use a fork to shred out the meat of it. (It’ll look a little like spaghetti noodles, if you aren’t familiar with it.) Add that to the bowl. Toss all of the ingredients together. Taste. Salt and pepper if needed.

Return the whole mixture to your baking dish and sprinkle gruyere over top. Bake for 25 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before scooping out and serving.