Baked Spaghetti Squash Pasta

We were at the grocery store last weekend and I saw fresh, yellow spaghetti squash, it seemed to be speaking to me and I said, hey - that'll be a good one for my blog since we make pasta dinners at least once a week. It waited patiently in my fridge until last night when I decided the time had come to send him to his rightful place  - our stomach :-) It is a light, satisfying and healthy - An all in one dish = no need for sides

For those who want to know what a spaghetti squash looks like, see the picture below. It's inside is shallow and seedy.

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash . 

1 box of Angel hair pasta

1 can of diced tomatoes

Herbs: 1/2 teaspoon each of dried rosemary, oregano and basil, dried garlic leaves, 

Spices:

1 teaspoon of whole black pepper

2 Cayenne peppers (or red chillies as they are commonly called)

Preparation:

In a 5 quart pot, fill half way up with water and boil. Add a drop of olive oil and a pinch of salt and add the angel hair pasta and let cook covered - it should be al dente in about 5 minutes on high heat.

In the meantime, peel and deseed squash. Then cut into 4 strips and grate with the bigger teeth of the grater.

Remove the pasta, pour into colander; run cold water through it and let it drain

Set a non-stick frying pan. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and some of the condiments mentioned and some peppers. Let it cook and golden. Then turn off

Dry grind your peppers

Open your diced tomato can, and empty its contents into a blender. Add the peppers and the same herbs to the puree and blend one more time

In the now empty pasta pot, pour the pureed tomato sauce and let it cook well - add salt to taste.

Preparing your baking pan and oven

Preheat oven to 350

Lightly grease your baking pan with olive oil

First spread one layer of the pasta

Then add a layer of squash

Top it with half the sauce

Sprinkle grated cheddar and/or mozarella cheeses (a small amount)

repeat process to get a second layer 

Top the pan with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Layering pics

First the pasta

Then the squash

                                                     Next the sauce
                                     
                                                       Topped with the cheese

                                                         Sprinkle the Parmesan last

Cook for about 30 minutes Serve HOT :-)

                                                                    Finished product

                                                            On you plate - benne Apettito