Weeknight Cooking
by: Gena Hamshaw
February24,2016
4
5 Ratings
- Prep time 30 minutes
- Cook time 45 minutes
- Serves 4
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Author Notes
This is the recipe that turned me—a self-professed disliker of spaghetti squash—into a fan. Most of the credit goes to the slightly spicy, garlicky white bean and tomato ragu, but the squash really is a perfect counterpart, offering sweetness and softness to the dish. —Gena Hamshaw
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- For the squash
- 1 large whole spaghetti squash
- 1 tablespoonolive oil
- 1 pinchkosher salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoongarlic powder
- For the white bean ragout
- 1 1/2 tablespoonsolive oil
- 1 white or yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspooncrushed thyme
- 1 teaspoondried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoonsalt (more to taste)
- 1 dashcrushed red pepper
- 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cupscooked cannellini, navy, or Great Northern beans (or 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed)
- 1 tablespoonorganic sugar, or 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cupchopped fresh parsley, for serving (optional)
Directions
- To prepare the squash, preheat your oven to 375° F. Use a sharp knife to trim the top and bottom of the squash off, so that it can stand upright on a cutting board. Slice the squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with a large spoon.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Brush the inside of the squash with the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher or coarse salt and pepper to taste. Place the squash, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the squash skin is tender enough to pierce easily with a fork. Allow the squash to cool down enough to handle, and then use a fork to scrape out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Taste the squash and add more salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
- While the squash roasts, make the ragout. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic for another 2 minutes, adding a splash of water if the onions are sticking. Add the thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, and sugar to the pot and stir them well. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, or until the sauce has thickened up. Taste sauce and add seasonings as desired.
- To serve, place a quarter of the squash into each bowl or plate and top with a cup of the ragout, as well as a bit of chopped parsley.
Tags:
- Pasta
- American
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Squash
- Thyme
- Vegetable
- Bean
- Weeknight Cooking
- Fall
- Winter
- Gluten-Free
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8 Reviews
melissa February 26, 2024
Surprised by how much I liked this! Simple. Next time will double the sauce recipe bc there was a lot of leftover squash. Bonus: you can toast the squash seeds for a snack!
melissa February 26, 2024
I forgot to add, I omitted the sugar bc I thought it didn't need it.
Marsha G. November 18, 2020
The ragu was fantastic. The spaghetti squash was okay, and I like spaghetti squash! I'm going 2 make the ragu again without changing a thing but I'll serve it over pasta or rice.
Ivan T. May 24, 2020
Was skeptical since I don't like spaghetti squash on its own, but it really does make a really good counterpart to the bean ragout. Delicious
J January 31, 2020
Finally! A vegetarian recipe w/o a gallon of olive oil. Looking forward to trying this.
Angela W. November 27, 2018
This really was delicious. I am also not normally a fan of squash.
sarahhtk January 27, 2018
Made this and doubled the ragout. Served leftovers with polenta. Delicious with squash the first time around and delicious with polenta as leftovers. Thank you!
Mike M. March 19, 2017
Made it and loved it. Used Trader Joe's fire roasted tomatoes that had green chili peppers. And we cooked our own beans for the first time. Totally doing that again, too. Thanks for this great idea!
