For our annual recipe contest in BMS 430, Sports Nutrition, students voted a surprising dish as their favorite.  Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole was a hit.  The dish was prepared by MSU softball player, Darby Joerling, who is an Kinesiology major with a minor in Nutrition.  Good luck to Darby and the softball team in their upcoming season.

This main dish is a great dinner option for strength athletes and/or those looking to cut weight and gain muscle. This easy meal is low in carbs and provides a good amount of protein. Additional protein can be added with other meat toppings mixed into the dish.

Ingredients:

 1 spaghetti squash

1 pound Italian sausage

1 cup pizza sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

3 eggs, whisked

optional: additional favorite pizza toppings

 Directions:

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. Then reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Once squash is done cooking, remove threads and place in a greased 8×8 baking dish. Place a large pan over medium heat on stovetop. Add Italian sausage. Cook until pink no longer remains in the sausage and it is broken up into pieces. Add pizza sauce, dried basil and salt and pepper to the pan and mix well. Add sausage mixture to the 8×8 dish and mix well with spaghetti squash threads. Lastly, add whisked eggs to the baking dish and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust that doesn’t give when you press on it in the middle of the dish. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving

 Nutritional Information:

 Servings: 4

Per Serving: 370 calories, 18 g fat, 13.2 g carbohydrates, 2.7 g fiber, 37.6 g protein