Beef Ragu over Spaghetti Squash

Typically, italian sauces are heavy on the tomatoes and lighter on the meat.  In a ragu, meat is front and center.  Combining grass fed beef  with red pesto and serving it over spaghetti squash is a nice change from the norm.  Here is what Wikipedia says about ragu…

“In the northern Italian regions, a ragù is typically a sauce of meat, often minced, chopped or ground, and cooked with sautéed vegetables in a liquid. The meats are varied and may include separately or in mixtures of beef, chicken, pork, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, veal, or game, as well as offal from any of the same. The liquids can be broth, stock, water, wine, milk, cream, or tomato, and often includes combinations of these. If tomatoes are included, they are typically limited in quantity relative to the meat. Characteristically, a ragù is a sauce of braised or stewed meat that may be flavoured with tomato, to distinguish it from a tomato sauce that is flavoured with the addition of meat.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragù

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 lbs grass fed ground beef
1/2 cup red pesto
1 tablespoon grass fed butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to your taste)
1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeded (be careful, they are tough to cut)

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the squash, cut side down, in a baking dish with about 1/2 inch of filtered water.  Cook 35-40 minutes. (Smaller squash will cook more quickly and large ones may take a bit longer.)  Be sure not to overcook.

While the squash is cooking, brown the ground beef and drain fat if necessary (grass fed beef has much less fat than conventional beef and doesn’t typically require much draining).  [NOTE:  I am not suggesting that fat is a bad thing, in fact fat from a grass fed cow is healthy!  I am simply pointing out that you may be surprised at the lack of fat you have to drain.  The last batch of beef I got from www.vineyardfarms.com had virtually no fat)

Once the beef is browned, add the red pesto.  You can add more or less, depending on your preference.  Keep warm until the squash comes out of the oven.

Remove squash from the oven and use a fork to separate the squash into spaghetti-like strands.

Serve the ragu over the squash and enjoy!