Sunday Dinner

This is a great combination if you are having company for dinner. It is delicious, looks impressive, but it is not that difficult to make. I'll give you the instructions and you can try it for yourself. I needed an extra meal to bring to a family with a new baby and this made enough to feed two families and I still have enough leftovers to eat it for lunch this entire week.

Start by cooking the spaghetti squash. I bought two large squash, cut them in half and scooped out the seeds (buy yourself a sharp knife!). Set them rind side down in a roasting pan with two inches of water under them and cook at 350 for about an hour or until fork tender. I put a tablespoon of butter into each half while they were cooking.

Meanwhile, wash your carrots - I bought about 4 pounds of carrots with the greens attached just because I think they are pretty. I did not peel them, just washed them and cut the greens short. Toss the carrots in a little olive oil and some fresh thyme and kosher salt and dump them in a roasting pan.

Now prepare your pork roast. I bought a 5 pound seasoned roast at Sam's Club. This one was a portobello mushroom roast. They run about $15-18 at Sam's for this size and will feed about 12 adults. All you have to do is dump it in another roasting pan.

When your squash is done, take it out and set it aside to cool a bit. Throw the roast and the carrots in the oven at 350. You are going to cook the roast until it reaches 150 on a digital read thermometer (about 45 minutes). At that point, you want to take it out and set it atop the stove with a piece of aluinum foil to cover it. The roast will continue cooking and is done when it reaches 155. DO NOT OVERCOOK PORK (it becomes dry and nasty). The carrots will be done about the same time as the roast (they should still have a nice crunch).


While they are cooking, you have 45 minutes to make your mushrooms and salad. For the mushroom sauce, heat up some olive oil (about 3T.) in a pan and add about 2-3 pounds of sliced while onions. You are going to cook the onions stirring occasionally until they caramelize (turn a beautiful golden brown). This will take a while so make your salad.

For the salad, I diced 3 avocado and segmented three red grapefuit and then squeezed the rest of the grapefruit juice onto the top. Toss and serve on a bed of spinach leaves.

Now that your onions are caramelized, add a package or two of sliced baby bella mushrooms. Add salt and pepper, 1/2 cup beef broth and 3/4 cup of red wine. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. While that simmers, scoop all of the cooked spaghetti squash into a bowl and add salt and pepper. Toss.

In a small bowl, add 2T. flour and about 1/4 cup cold cream (or milk) and mix well. Add this mixture little by little into the mushroom oinion sauce until it thickens a bit (you will not need all of it). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the spaghetti squash onto a large platter. Take your roast, slice it and then arrange the slices on top of the squash. Pour the mushroom sauce on top.

That's it. Not very complicated, a really delicious meal and it makes a very nice presentation.