Paleo Bird's Nest Pie

My once-a-month cooking friends know how much I love Bird's Nest Pie. It's an awesome go-to meal. Spaghetti, mixed with an egg and Parmesan cheese, spread in a pan. Top that with sour cream that's been mixed with cooked onions, topped with sausage cooked with some sauce. Cover the whole thing in sliced mozzarella cheese and bake it all. Yum!

Well, let's count the ways that meal IS NOT Paleo. 1) Spaghetti is full of flour - BAD. 2) All that cheese is not Paleo friendly. 3) Sour cream is not Paleo friendly. Boo!!!

Spaghetti is something that we love, and spaghetti squash is a perfect substitute. It is super easy to prepare spaghetti squash, so don't let it scare you off! I started by preheating my oven to 400 and I cut the squash in half and placed it cut-side down on a pan. I baked it for about 25-30 minutes until the squash skin was soft. I then took a fork and separated the strands of spaghetti. *Turn the oven down to 350 for later.

I placed the spaghetti pieces into an 8x8 dish and the dish was half full. That's a lot of spaghetti from one squash! I set the dish aside and started working on the rest of the meal.

In a pan I cooked a pound of Italian sausage mixed with 1 small chopped onion. After that cooked till the pink was gone, I turned the heat off and added 1 cup of marinara sauce, basil, salt and pepper. I know I was supposed to measure out the basil, salt, and pepper, but I just eyeballed it. Pour that on the spaghetti and mix it up. 

In a small bowl, whisk together 3 eggs then pour it all over the spaghetti mixture. Mix it up so you can't see the egg anymore and it looks like that picture above. Bake it for 55-60 minutes at 350.

Verdict: Ooh, look at that! Doesn't that look tasty! No cheese and no sour cream, but still full of flavor! My son was complaining all afternoon about why can't we just have spaghetti like normal people. I told him that even if it was cheat day, which it isn't, I can't eat spaghetti anymore because of my gluten intolerance. Gluten free spaghetti doesn't exactly taste great. Well, let me tell you, that boy was raving over this meal. He said it tasted better than the original Bird's Nest Pie! Kid #3 absolutely loved it and my hubby thought it was great. This was a big win meal!

This meal was originally found at PaleOMG.

PALEO BIRD’S NEST PIE

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 large spaghetti squash

1 pound Italian bulk sausage

1 small onion – chopped

1 cup Marinara sauce

1 tsp dried basil

Salt and pepper to taste

3 eggs, whisked

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut spaghetti squash in half and place on baking sheet cut-side down. Bake for 25-30 minutes until skin is soft.

2. Remove spaghetti squash from oven. Reduce oven to 350. Grease 8x8 glass baking dish.

3. Use a fork to separate the pieces of spaghetti and put them all into the dish.

4. In a skillet cook the sausage with the chopped onion until no pink remains in the sausage.

5. Remove the skillet from heat. Add the Marinara, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.

6. Add sausage mixture to the spaghetti squash and mix well.

7. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and pour over the squash mixture and mix well.

8. Bake for 55-60 minutes.