When you cook with Italian sauces, do you have a favorite sauce that you cook with? For us, we love Ragu Traditional Sauce. Ragu is an authentic Italian sauce with richer taste, aroma and texture than most other brands because it’s made the traditional way and with the same standards set by Assunta in 1937. Instead of using shortcuts, Ragu follows Assunta’s secret family recipe slow-simmering vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic, and fragrant herbs. And, they have no artificial flavors, colors and no high fructose corn syrup. Head HERE to learn more about Ragu.

I use Ragu sauce over noodles, in lasagna, in slow cooker meals and even in new recipes that I concoct. While I don’t have a lot of time in the kitchen, I love to put together a wonderful meal that my family can enjoy. Most nights my husband is on the road a lot working. So when he is home for dinner, I love to have my son and hubby at the dinner table enjoying a home cooked meal.

Ragu is encouraging families to gather around the dinner table with their “Ready. Set. Cook!” contest! This contest challenges home cooks to create a new and unique recipe featuring Ragu and ingredients from a set list. For four weeks (from 11/2 – 11/30) you can enter this cooking challenge. The goal is for us to think outside of the box and create a dish that goes beyond the expected and utilizes Ragu sauce. The grand prize winner will receive $3,000, the runner-up $1,250 and the people’s choice winner will receive $750!

I love these kinds of challenges and thus created this Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp, Bacon and Feta recipe. I’ve never made this before and to be honest, have never created a dish combining those four ingredients and marinara sauce. So I was eager to see how it would turn out. I knew their flavors should all go well with Ragu Sauce. But I was still a bit nervous. I shouldn’t have been, though, because this turned out amazing! For more info on this contest, head HERE.

One of the things I love about this meal, is that it is a one pan meal. You do need to cook the spaghetti squash in the oven. But while that is cooking, get a deep pan out and start working on the toppings. Start by browning the bacon – remove once cooked but reserve the drippings in the pan. Then, cook the shrimp – just like the bacon – remove once cooked but reserve the drippings in the pan. And lastly, make the sauce.

To the Ragu Traditional sauce I added a little dill and feta cheese. I slowly brought the sauce to a boil.

Once the sauce starts boiling, add the cooked bacon and spaghetti squash. Mix together.

Then, add the cooked shrimp. You can either leave the shrimp on the top, or mix with the sauce. I found the sauce to be so tasty that I wanted it to cover the shrimp. So I mixed everything together. This recipe turned out amazing. The saltiness from the bacon went perfectly with sweetness of the sauce and the tanginess of the feta cheese. And honestly, what isn’t better than shrimp in pasta! Below is the recipe!

Head HERE to see all of the Recipes on Addicted to Saving

Have you created any innovative recipes with Ragu sauces? Leave a comment with your recipes! And, make sure you enter the  “Ready. Set. Cook!” contest!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ragu. The opinions and text are all mine.