CHEESY GARLIC PARMESAN SPINACH SPAGHETTI SQUASH

I’m scrolling through facebook and I came across a video picture of a delicious looking spaghetti squash.  It’s been about a month or so since I’ve made some and so I quickly used the save feature to make sure that I did not loose this recipe.

Spaghetti Squash is a good choice for me to make me feel like I’m getting pasta. Also, it’s great because my wife can eat her gluten free pasta without either of us filling guilty or unsatisfied.

I put the items on our grocery list this week and this afternoon I gave the recipe a try.

This is one recipe that makes you feel like your having a cheat meal without cheating.

 

Two notes:

• I don’t know if I let the squash cook too long, but it was a little watery at the bottom. It was fine when I mixed it all up, but I would recommend to either add a little salt and pepper to the squash before it goes into the oven or over compensating the salt and pepper in the spinach mixture.
• There are so many more proteins and vegetables that would go with this recipe. Next time, I’ll  be sure to play around with the ingredients.

prep: 10 mins

cook: 60 mins

total: 1 hour, 10 mins

author: jenn laughlin – peas and crayons

yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 medium spaghetti squash
• 2.5 TBSP minced garlic
• 1 tsp olive or avocado oil
• 5 oz fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 TBSP cream cheese (optional but deeeelish!)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
• salt and pepper, to taste
• grated or sliced mozzarella for topping, to taste

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Slice your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. For easy cutting, feel free to stick each squash in the microwave for 3-5 minutes to soften it up just a tad. The knife slides through way easier this way! Smaller squash will need about 3-4 minutes while larger ones will be good to go at 5 min.
3. Next grab a lipped baking sheet or a rimmed baking dish.
4. Rub the cut side of the squash with a teeny bit of olive oil.
5. Place inside a baking dish or atop rimmed baking sheet and roast face-down for about 40 minutes, or until tender and easily pierced with a fork. Cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of your squash, and larger squash will need to roast a bit longer to tenderize. Once ready, the once rock-hard exterior of the squash will be visibly softened with a tender interior.
6. The squash can be roasted and stored in the fridge for a few days if you’d like to meal prep and plan ahead for a speedier dinner.
7. While the squash roasts, start on the sauce.
8. In a medium pot or skillet, bring a drizzle of olive oil to medium-high heat and sauté garlic until fragrant.
9. Next add the spinach and stir until wilted. Add your cream, cream cheese (totally optional but totally tasty) and parmesan cheese and stir well.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
11. Once squash is done roasting, allow to cool until easily handled or pop on an oven mit and use a fork to separate and fluff the strands of spaghetti squash.
12. Pour your sauce over each squash boat, stir to mix, and top with a little mozzarella cheese and additional parm cheese, if desired.
13. Bake at 350 degrees F for around 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
14. For a golden cheesy topping, flip your oven to broil on high for just a minute or two until lightly browned. Dive in while it’s HOT!

Source: http://peasandcrayons.com/2016/09/cheesy-garlic-parmesan-spinach-spaghetti-squash.html