Paleo "Spaghetti" & Meatball Cups

This was originally a recipe that I found online and made a few changes to. I used ground turkey and it came out amazing, but you could also use ground beef. These are seriously little cups of comfort food heaven!!  

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed;

• 1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef

• 4 egg whites, whisked;

• 1 egg;

• ½ tbsp. dried parsley;

• ½ tbsp. dried basil;

• ½ tbsp. dried thyme;

• Coconut oil

• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Ingredients for the tomato sauce 

• 2 cups good quality tomato sauce;
• 1 garlic clove, minced;
• ½ tbsp. dried parsley;
• ½ tbsp. dried basil;
• ½ tbsp. dried thyme;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Place the spaghetti squash on a baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for 45 minutes.
3. Combine the ground turkey, dried parsley, dried, basil, dried thyme, and egg, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix everything until well combined.
4. Roll the meat into meatballs of about 1 inch in diameter.
5. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the tomato sauce and season to taste.
6. In a large skillet placed over a medium heat, sauté the meatballs until browned on all sides.
7. Add the tomato sauce to the skillet and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
8. Once the spaghetti squash is cooked, use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash and place in a bowl.
9. Lower the oven’s heat to 350 F.
10. Mix the egg white with the spaghetti squash, and then fill each cavity of a muffin tin with the squash mix, pressing down in the middle to make a “nest” for the meatball.
11. Place one meatball on top of each muffin and place in the oven for about 20 minutes.
12. Serve with remaining sauce drizzled on top of each meatball bite.