Spaghetti squash

Spaghetti squash is a really weird plant. When you cook it, it gets all stringy. I suppose this would be gross if it weren't so cool.  Anyway, we had dinner with my friend Maddy the other day, and she served us spaghetti squash, mixed up with some sauce and stuff and topped with cheese.  It was so tasty! But, Maddy being vegetarian, my suggestion that sausage would have improved things didn't go over super well.  So, I decided to remake the squash, this time with some meat. Definitely improved, and definitely delicious. I may have eaten an entire half squash in one sitting.

First, roast the squash: Cut it in half lengthwise (this may take some effort), remove the seeds, and stick it in a 400-degree oven, cut side up.  20 minutes later, see if it creates ribbons when you drag a fork across it.  If so, take it out, and shred the meat of the squash into ribbons with a fork. Careful, it'll be hot!  Put the spaghetti strands into a big bowl, to mix with all the ingredients.  Definitely save the seeds and roast them, too, because they're delicious.

As the squash roasts, prepare the filling. I used two pans (what one-pot meal? not so good at that part), one to caramelize some onions, and one to cook up the ground beef.  Sausage would work well here, but I had ground beef.  I threw in a big pinch of rosemary, fennel seeds, and cumin seeds into the grease to flavor things, and this was a good move. Definitely flavor the heck out of that meat, because the squash itself is pretty bland.

Put the onions and the beef and spices into the bowl with the spaghetti squash. We also had like a cup or two of chopped herbs - basil and parsley. But you can really go wild, whatever you think would taste good.

I had some fresh mozzarella, and put half of it, torn into pieces, in the bowl. The other half I tore into pieces and sprinkled on top.  Plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper, and then put the filling back into your squash shells, top with more cheese, and return to the oven for another 10-20min, until the cheese on top is slightly browned and totally melted.

Serves two as a main dish, but you could probably stretch it to 6-8 people as a side.  Tasty, healthy, cheap - this one's a winner!

Pear tart

I really wanted a pear and frangipane tart the other day. I had visions of something that looked like this, but, well, mine looked more like someone was in a rush and didn't bother to clean up the edges of the pie crust, and then dumped a can of pears on top.  Oh well, it still tasted delicious.  I love that almond-y flavor in the cookie-ish frangipane, and the canned pears were the perfect texture for something like this.  I boiled down some of the pear syrup to make a glaze, and I'd say that was pretty durn successful, too.

Overall, this is the sort of tart that is quick and easy to make, and tastes really delicious. Need to make again!

Pear Almond Tart

1 recipe pie crust/pate brise (choose your favorite)

Frangipane: 

1 egg

1/2C almond flour

3 tbs butter, softened

1/4C sugar

1tbs flour

1/2tsp almond extract

1 can of pears

Make your pie crust. Roll it out, make it pretty on the edges if you're into that, and blind bake for 20min at 350F.

In a food processor, combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond meal, almond extract, and flour, until it makes a smooth paste.  

Spread the paste into the pie crust shell.

Cut the pears into pretty wedges and arrange artistically around the pie. Or, randomly dump them on top.

Bake the tart another 20 minutes, until a tester stick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, boil ~1C of the pear syrup until it is thick and sticky.  When the tart comes out of the oven, brush the syrup on top of the tart.  

Try not to consume the whole thing in one sitting.

Burgers, with flavor!

We wanted burgers the other day, and may have gotten a little carried away with all the stuff we put into them.  I don't remember exactly everything, but I do remember that these were quite tasty, juicy and flavorful.  I don't know if we had a theme for our flavors, but  remember grinding up some cumin, coriander, cardamom, pepper, and fennel, along with a couple good pinches of sumac and even more pinches of salt.  Then most of a head of parsley, a clove or two of garlic, and a handful of pitted green olives (not the canned kind; the tasty kind that are small and olive-y tasting).  

I mixed that up with my hands, because what better way is there than that? Threw a small piece in the pan to test the flavors (yum), and formed two burgers.  The meat was way too finely-ground, which may have been the inspiration behind putting all the stuff in the burger in the first place, and it was also way too lean, but the olives helped keep things moist.  I think it was buffalo meat, since that had been the same price as cow meat for some reason, and I like trying new things. Tasted similar to cow.  

I cooked these just in a pan - got a good sear on both sides and after maybe 10 minutes they were cooked through.  We were lacking any burger buns (fail), but did have some fresh whole wheat bread, that we cut in half, slathered with hummus on one side and garlic aioli on the other, and that was totally acceptable.