Four Ingredient Sausage Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash [GF]
Ingredients
1 lb raw mild Italian pork sausage (ground or links), makes about 10-12 meatballs depending on size
1 small spaghetti squash
24 oz marinara sauce (Rao’s is my favorite for flavor and “clean” ingredients)
4 oz fresh mozzarella
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Lay the squash face up and drizzle them with EVOO, S&P. Flip the squash face down. Place into heated oven, and roast for ~60mins. You can tell they are done when they are fork tender.
A large cast iron skillet or shallow cast iron dutch oven work best for the meatballs because when you brown the sausage, you want the bottom to catch all the crusty yummy bits.
Making the meatballs with one ingredient is all in the technique. This is how I make them without bread crumbs, egg, or anything else (if you have sausage links, remove the casing first). Take a section that is about golf ball sized. Roll the sausage into a ball with your hands, and keep rolling… and rolling. The warmth from your hand will melt the pork fat, and help bind the meat together. Set aside, and move onto the next one until all of the meatballs are made.
Preheat your skillet/dutch oven over medium high heat. Add 1 TB of EVOO. Add meatballs (without crowding the pan- you may have to do two batches of browning). And DO NOT TOUCH for a least 5 minutes. When your meatballs are ready to flip, they will release from the bottom of the pan. Brown on both sides and set aside. Pour in marinara and scrape the bottom of your pan to release all of the brown bits. Add meatballs back in, bring to a boil, cover (if using a skillet use foil to cover), and reduce to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Remove lid and place a thin, small piece of mozzarella on each meatball.
Remove spaghetti squash from the oven, and use a fork to make “spaghetti”.
When the cheese is melted, top the spaghetti squash, and ENJOY!