All The Cozy Italian Comfort, With A Little More Room On The Plate

I love me a good lasagna. There, I said it. And yes, I am absolutely living my recovery in abstinence.

What is it about a bubbling casserole layered with a homemade marinara sauce, roasted vegetables, spicy sausage or ground meat, creamy ricotta, and Parmesan that just takes me immediately back to my Nonna’s homemade comfort food? While traditional lasagna may not be what I am putting on my food plan these days, that does not mean I have to give up the flavors and the experience of a really good Italian meal.

This recipe makes me ridiculously happy about cooking in recovery. Here we are using roasted spaghetti squash instead of the traditional noodles, plenty of roasted veggies, the protein of your choice, our homemade marinara sauce, and ricotta and parmesan cheeses to create a hearty casserole with generous, abstinent portions. It’s warm, savory, cheesy, satisfying, and absolutely something I love cooking and eating.

---

Why I Love Spaghetti Squash In My Food Plan

Spaghetti Squash I especially appreciate in my food plan because it provides a generous amount of food for my starch serving. Compared to a similarly measured serving of cooked rice or potato, spaghetti squash is lower in calories and carbohydrates and contains more water, so I can enjoy a substantially larger measurement while still following the starch portion of my plan.

Of course, nutrition numbers are not what determine my food plan, and I am not suggesting that we need to count calories or carbohydrates. My food plan tells me what and how much I eat. I just get more bang for my buck with spaghetti squash. My particular food plan allows me to have a little more of this starch on my plate, which makes for a satisfying meal.

---

Roast Everything

The secret to making this casserole really delicious is roasting the spaghetti squash and the vegetables rather than simply cooking them. Roasting brings out so much flavor. The vegetables get those deliciously browned and caramelized edges, and the spaghetti squash develops a richer flavor and a texture that works beautifully in the casserole. It takes a small amount of time up front, but this is exactly the kind of cooking I like to do as part of my food preparation.

If you’re using Italian sausage in this recipe, you can roast that right along with the veggies. How simple and easy is that?

I can roast the squash, roast the vegetables, cook the meat, and make my marinara. I then have the building blocks for several planned meals ready to go. That makes following my food plan feel less like work and more like taking care of myself.

---

Generous Abstinent Portions

One of the things I really wanted from this recipe was a generous portion.

Food addiction recovery is not a diet. I have already spent enough years thinking about food through the lens of restriction, deprivation, and “being good“. That is absolutely not what recovery is about.

I still want to sit down to a plate of food that looks like dinner.

This casserole does exactly that. The roasted squash and vegetables give it substance, the ricotta makes it creamy, Parmesan gives the dish a wonderful savory finish, and the marinara just ties everything together. It feels abundant and even a bit special while still working within the structure of my food plan.

That’s MY kind of recovery cooking!

---

Food Planning Made A Little Easier

One of the reasons I love recipes like this is that they work so well with food planning. I already know ahead of time what I’m eating because I have a food plan.

A little preparation makes my food plan even easier. Roast the squash and vegetables ahead of time, keep your marinara ready in the refrigerator or freezer, and assembly becomes a whole lot simpler. Portion this dish according to your own food plan and you still have additional planned meals ready for later in the week!

This is the type of convenience I appreciate. Not that pseudo-food engineered to make me eat more, but simple, good, wholesome food that makes it easier for me to eat what I have already decided to eat.

---

Let’s Make Lasagna

This recipe is simple and forgiving. No need for perfection here. Roast your vegetables, layer everything together, pop it in the oven, and allow the cheese to get all bubbly and wonderful.

Then, sit down and enjoy your food.

Because, yes, we are food addicts in recovery. Yes, we have food plans. And yes, we can still make a pretty fantastic casserole. Let’s go!

---

Print

---