Now, spaghetti used to be one of my favorite foods. I loved delicious noodles with tomato-basil sauce, I even purchased the whole wheat variety because I had been convinced that it was a “healthy” option. Fast forward one year and I am standing in my kitchen thinking about how in the world I am going to turn zuchinni and squash into noodles. I MUST HAVE PASTA! Or… at least some variation of it…

Out of the corner of my eye I see it there, sparkling under the kitchen heat lamp… a vegetable peeler. I grab it and put it to use. Using a peeler I am able to shred the Zucchini and Squash into thinly sliced- linguini-looking strands of deliciousness.

When I pair this with made-from-scratch sauce and meatballs, the result is success and a confused boyfriend staring at me and asking “How in the world did you make this”? Simple genius-ness Marc Duchene- genius-ness…

As most of you know, my once semi-paleo boyfriend started the road to recovery from his back injury this past January.  As part of this he has now become my fully-paleo boyfriend. Scary news… he may be getting better at it than me. Not-so-scary news, his hunger is fueling my imagination and this means: more paleo in pink recipes for you!

One of Marc’s first requests as he re-entered the paleo world was another helping of my original “Paleo Spaghetti.”

This mixture of meat and veggies is a great combo of protein and carbs, throw some EVOO in the sauce and fats are covered as well.

There are two methods you can take when rolling out this recipe, store-bought or made-from-scratch. I recommend made from scratch as you have control over the ingredients and no unnecessary preservatives or sugars will make their way onto your plate. The con, however, is homemade sauce and meatballs will take noticeably longer to prepare. If you do decide to go with store bought, though, keep a good eye on ingredients before making a purchase.

This meal takes at least one hour to prepare depending on how long you like for your sauce to simmer, my grandma simmers hers for 8 hours! I think one and half to two is plenty.

Sauce:

NOTE: Start with this item first and leave it simmering while you prepare the rest of the meal.

2 cans crushed tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic (chopped finely)
½ onions (chopped finely)
1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. crushed chilli powder (depending on how spicy you like food)

¼ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste (add near end of cooking)

Begin with a large pot (big enough to fit sauce and later on, meatballs as well). With the olive oil, make two turns of the pan or so. Begin to heat the onion, when the onions are almost transparent, add the garlic. Allow to cook for about another minute or so. Add the tomato sauce, crushed tomato, and tomato paste. Then add all spices. Stir together well. Leave the sauce at a medium high heat until it begins to boil. Upon light boiling turn the heat down and allow simmering for as long as possible before you are just wayyy to hungry!

Meatballs:

1 lb lean ground beef, turkey or bison

1 egg

1tbsp of water

½ cup almond meal

½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp garlic powder

Salt & Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mash it together with clean hands (no ripped calluses in here please!) After well roll sections of meat into balls and set aside. When ready add meatballs to a large frying pan and brown on all sides (no oil needed). When all are well-browned, drain the meat and add to the sauce. This will add a great flavor to the sauce. Let the meatballs mix with the sauce for at least 30 minutes if you are impatient. (FYI meatballs can be used for all sorts of recipes, even on the side by themselves- this a great item to have in your paleo arsenal!) Also- before consuming any meatballs- open one up and make sure that is browned all the way through, ground meat should only be consumed if cooked thoroughly.

The Noodles:

Finally (My Favorite Part!) This serves 2, so double the recipe depending on family size.

2 Zucchini

2 Squash

Salt& Pepper (to taste)

Garlic Salt (to taste)

Olive Oil

Begin by holding the squash or zucchini from the top, using the vegetable peeler push down slightly more than you normally would to peel the vegetable. Continue to do so on all sides of the vegetable until you reach the seeds. Repeat with all zucchini and squash you are using and set “noodles aside”. In a warm pan, add about 2 tbsp of Olive Oil. When hot add the zucchini and squash and season with salt, pepper and garlic salt to your liking. Only cook for about 3 minutes so that the noodles are cooked but still firm.

When your noodles are all done you can plate them and top with spaghetti sauce and meatballs. And you can finally fix your craving for pasta! Well it worked for me anyway! Marc’s suspiciously excited quote, “The Italians should be jealous because this is better and healthier!” Hmmm… alright what now what do you want Marc Duchene?….. Paleo Chicken Wings??!! Let me see what I can do…

By the way, if you haven’t already check out Marc’s new comeback blog! marcdoescrossfit.wordpress.com