I am obsessed with gourds. I cannot get enough. Every time I see squash or pumpkin on a menu I can't help but order it. And when all I want is something warm and comforting, after a long day at the office and a cold journey home, gourds are on my brain. My latest discovery is the magical spaghetti squash. It's a tough one to wrangle (since it's strong and resistant like a pumpkin), but once it emerges from the oven it's well worth the work. The best way to trick your body into loving a healthy, vegetarian, low calorie, high fiber meal is to make my Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca - trust me on this one. As an added bonus, it also satisfies the need for a warm home-cooked meal in the dead of winter, without packing on hibernation pounds. I could seriously eat this all winter!Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash, cut in half, seeds removed
5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
Kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon capers
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Rub both sides of the cut butternut squash with one tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Place squash flesh side down on to baking sheet. Put in oven for approximately 15-20 minutes depending on size of squash; when it's done you should be able to puncture the skin easily with a knife.
While the squash is cooking, sautee the onions on medium heat with remaining oil until soft and slightly browned. Add the fresh chopped tomatoes making sure to add any juice that may have escaped during prep. Add the kalamata olives (I like a lot, other don't so I'll leave the amount to your discretion) and capers. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes so the tomatoes soften and the sauce begins to thicken. When the sauce looks almost done, add the fresh chopped oregano and garlic. Let the sauce sit at low heat while you deal with the squash.
Remove the squash from the oven and let cool slightly. Once you can comfortably handle the heat of the squash removed the flesh by scraping the gourd with a fork horizontally - if properly cooked this should be very easy as the squash "spaghetti" will fall away from the shell.
Plate the "spaghetti" and then spoon the puttanesca sauce on top, adding a little parmesan cheese if desired.
Preheat oven to 375. Rub both sides of the cut butternut squash with one tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Place squash flesh side down on to baking sheet. Put in oven for approximately 15-20 minutes depending on size of squash; when it's done you should be able to puncture the skin easily with a knife.
While the squash is cooking, sautee the onions on medium heat with remaining oil until soft and slightly browned. Add the fresh chopped tomatoes making sure to add any juice that may have escaped during prep. Add the kalamata olives (I like a lot, other don't so I'll leave the amount to your discretion) and capers. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes so the tomatoes soften and the sauce begins to thicken. When the sauce looks almost done, add the fresh chopped oregano and garlic. Let the sauce sit at low heat while you deal with the squash.
Remove the squash from the oven and let cool slightly. Once you can comfortably handle the heat of the squash removed the flesh by scraping the gourd with a fork horizontally - if properly cooked this should be very easy as the squash "spaghetti" will fall away from the shell.
Plate the "spaghetti" and then spoon the puttanesca sauce on top, adding a little parmesan cheese if desired.
iam totally commenting the shit out of your blog!
ReplyDeleteand gonna make this.
fyi, the photo looks like an amoeba of the sea creature bottom of the sea variety. it's lovely.
ps this is lisa.
loveyou!