Comfort Food Fix

No matter what, sometimes you just want Mama's home cooking. My mom's food is the best (don't we all think so?), but she lives just a few states away and can't be in my kitchen when I come home from work. Next best choice? Smitten Kitchen. Deb's food tastes like warmth, love, and home, and trying her recipes always make me feel like I'm in very good hands. Thanks to her, I now have an amazing red sauce recipe under my belt and some comfort food in my tummy.

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce and Spinach

Recipe, adapted from Smitten Kitchen:
(Makes 4 large servings)

2 medium spaghetti squash, sliced lengthwise with seeds scooped out (You can get 2-3 servings out of one medium squash)
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup red wine
1 14-ounce can no sodium diced tomatoes with juice
1 10+-ounce can tomato puree
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped and separated
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
5 cups fresh spinach
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover two cookie sheets with tinfoil, place spaghetti squash cut side down, and bake for 45 minutes.
In a large, deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook ground turkey, breaking into pieces, until fully cooked. Remove to a plate and cover.
In the same skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion, cooking for 10 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and wine and turn heat to medium-high. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and half the basil and mix together. Return ground turkey to the sauce and mix in. Turn heat to simmer and cook for 10 additional minutes or until heated through.
In a separate skillet, heat olive oil and saute fresh spinach until wilted. Set aside.
When squash is done, let cool and then scrape strands into a bowl or directly onto plates.
Serve squash onto plates, add spinach, spoon sauce on top, and sprinkle with remaining basil and Parmesan cheese. Dig in!

Boyfriend Meter:
5 out of 5
"Savory, addicting, light"