Passion Project: Spaghetti Squash with Pork Sausage

Hope you all enjoyed learning about chicken through my passion project week! Now that we’re done with the bird, we’re switching to the hog. Pork is an incredible animal! It’s rich, full of flavors, and starting to steal the show on restaurant menus again. Since it’s less practical for me to buy a full pig, I won’t be posting through the week like for chicken. I will, however, select a few cuts to explore and post these. Today we’re starting nice and easy. I went to the market and headed straight to the sausage stand. Sausage is probably the most common and widely spread way to eat pork.

There was so much variety and so many options that I spent about 20 minutes at the counter. You know that annoying customer who doesn’t know what he/she wants, and slows down the whole line? Well that was me… But luckily, nobody was waiting behind. I was both amazed and completely overwhelmed by the variety of flavors! So I naturally opted for a few of them: sundried tomatoes, broccoli rabe and provolone, white wine, and spicy roasted red peppers. Since they only last for a couple of days in the fridge, I set one aside, and froze the rest as soon as I got home. (Just chop up the frozen ones and throw them in a hot pan to get them crispy!)

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. I love sausage but for some reason I never cook it. I usually only have it when I go out to get brunch. I have it with eggs and such. When I think about it, I’d never had pasta with sausage until I came to the US. This isn’t a typical combination back home, so I had to wait 18 years to see it on a menu. It’s so odd because it’s so delicious! It’s such a comforting dish. This time around, I replaced the pasta with spaghetti squash but it’s also great with regular pasta. This recipe is a new favorite of mine. I probably made it 4 times in a single week. Bon appétit!

Total time: 15 minutes with cooked spaghetti squash (or 50 from scratch)

Ingredients:

1/2 small spaghetti squash
1/4 yellow onion
1/2 garlic clove
1 pork sausage (I tried this dish with spicy roasted red pepper and with sundried tomatoes!)
1/3 can crushed tomatoes
1 rosemary sprig
olive oil
shaved parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

If you haven’t done so already, cook the spaghetti squash. Illustrated tutorial here!
Cut the sausage in small round pieces. Mince the onion and the garlic.
Heat a medium pot. Add the sausage and let the pieces sizzle. As soon as they start releasing fat, add the onion and garlic. Let everything get golden brown and crispy.
Then, add the crushed tomatoes. Give it a stir and let the sauce reduce for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
To serve, start with the spaghetti squash and top with the sauce. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, a few rosemary leaves, some shaved parmesan cheese, and a finishing touch of black pepper. Enjoy!

TIP: This dish is fantastic! You can really get creative with the sauce. The sausage and tomatoes make a great base from which you can experiment. I like to add some chopped kale or mushrooms!

Temps Total: 15 minutes avec une courge spaghetti cuite (or 50 depuis le début)

Ingrédients:

1/2 petite courge spaghetti
1/4 d’oignon jaune
1/2 gousse d’ail
1 saucisse de porc (j’ai testé avec une au poivron rouge et une aux tomates séchées)
1/3 de conserve de tomates concassées
1 brin de romarin
huile d’olive
quelques copeaux de parmesan
sel de mer et poivre noir fraichement moulu

Étapes:

Si vous ne l’avez pas déjà fait, faites cuire votre courge spaghetti. Tutoriel illustré par ici!
Coupez la saucisse en petites rondelles. Émincez les oignons et l’ail.
Faites chauffer une casserole. Ajoutez la saucisse et laissez les rondelles griller. Lorsque la graisse commence à fondre, ajoutez les oignons et l’ail. Laissez le tout dorer pendant 8-10 minutes environ.
Puis, ajoutez les tomates concassées. Mélangez le tout et laissez la sauce réduire. Goutez et ajustez l’assaisonnement.
Pour servir, commencez par la courge spaghetti et ajoutez la sauce dessus. Garnissez avec un filet d’huile d’olive, quelques brins de romarin, des copeaux de parmesan et un tour de poivre noir. Bon appétit!

LE PLUS: Cette recette est fantastique! La saucisse et les tomates forment une sauce de base où vous pouvez ajouter ce qui vous passe par la tête (ou ce qu’il vous reste dans le frigo). J’adore y mettre du kale ou des champignons!