It’s September 7th and time to celebrate squash because it is National Acorn Squash Day (there’s so many national food days I learn about through blogging). Today the Sunday Supper group is honoring squash with a Squash Fest! Our collection of recipes will showcase a wide range of squash, from the humble zucchini all the way to the renowned pumpkin!
This summer when I attended the Food and Wine Conference, not only did I get to interact with some amazing people, but I found quite a bit of inspiration. During a carbonara demo Sunday morning, I had some discussion with other attendees about how to make a carbonara gluten free. Zucchini noodles were brought up during the conversation, which immediately both confused and interested me. I asked how you could make a gluten free pasta using zucchini, and learned about an amazing tool called a spiralizer. It’s a tool that can pretty much turn a vegetable into long strands, good for a variety of applications, veggie noodles included. Since that conversation I’ve wanted to buy a spiralizer, and thought that Squash Fest would be the perfect moment to use it!
Feeling inspired by the ending summer, I decided to use some local heirloom tomatoes to make a sauce for the zucchini noodles. Its a simple yet aromatic sauce filled with heirloom tomatoes, onions, and herbs. I like to add a little bit of honey to my sauce to slightly sweeten it. This recipe also includes some simple meatballs that go wonderfully with the zucchini noodles and sauce. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
2 heirloom tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb ground beef
1/4 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 zucchini

Instructions
Dice the tomato, 1/2 onion, and 2 garlic cloves. Pour the olive oil into a sauce pan and heat to medium. Add the onion and cloves and stir for 3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, tsp oregano, tsp basil, tsp thyme, tsp honey, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and let simmer for 2 hours.
Preheat an oven to 350F and line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Dice the 1/4 onion and 2 cloves. Combine the meat, onion, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Form the meat into 1 inch meatballs and place on the pan. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Use the spiralizer to turn the zucchini into noodle. Form a pile of noodles and cut in half to form manageable noodles. Place the noodles on a plate, top with the meatballs, and pour the tomato sauce on top.