Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca

Wow! I was actually surprised that this dish was as delicious as it was! The recipe is from epicurious.com. I really wasn’t sure about it but I decided to give it a try. I had some left over salmon from the night before that Murray could have with this dish since I wasn’t sure he would just want vegetables for supper! Well, he really liked this & his review is that it doesn’t taste like only vegetables! That’s funny because that’s all it is! The original recipe has the option of adding anchovies but I did not add that….not my favourite thing! The flavour of this dish is rich & complex. I have made spaghetti puttanesca before and found the taste to be on the mild side, but this didn’t have that issue. I might use this recipe with the pasta if I want pasta instead of the spaghetti squash.One other nice thing, other than the taste…is that you can eat a lot of it & not feel quilty is you are inclined to feel quilty about what you eat!

Here is the link to the recipe from epicurious.com

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sheet-pan-spaghetti-squash-puttanesca-56390005

 

Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca

 

Ingredients

1 large spaghetti squash

salt & pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups of cherry tomatoes

1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, cleaned & cut in 8ths if big or 4ths if small

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut in half

1 tbsp drained capers

1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

3 tbsp olive oil….divided…2 tbsp + 1 tbsp

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

1/4 cup chopped parsley, divided

3/4 cup ricotta cheese ***approximatley

 

Method

Pre-heat oven to 375f

Line 2 baking sheets with foil1 Spray the foil on the baking sheets with cooking spray

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, remove the seeds & season the flesh with salt & pepper. Put the spaghetti squash flesh side down on the sprayed foil & bake for 45-60 minutes
2. Combine the minced garlic, cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, red pepper flakes, & 2 tbsp of olive oil in a bowl, then put on the second foil liked baking sheet
3. After the 30 minutes, put the baking sheet with the tomato mixture in the same oven as the spaghetti squash & bake for 15-30 minutes.***the original recipe calls for this tomato mixture to be baked for 15 minutes, but mine was not cooked enough so I kept the squash & the tomato mixture in the oven for another 15 minuts. Just check after the 15 & decide if it is cooked enough
4. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring occacionaly for even toasting. When done remove from the hot pan right away & put in a bowl or on a plate
5. Remove the cooked squash & tomato mixture from the oven once cooked
6. With an oven mitt on, hold the squash & scrape out the flesh crosswise & put into a large bowl.
7. Using a potato masher, or fork, squish the tomatoes so that they release thier juices.
8. Put the tomato mixture & the juices from the pan into the bowl with the scraped squash
9. Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, the toasted pine nuts, & half of the minced parsley & basil. Mix well
10. Serve with the ricotta cheese scooped on top & garnished with the left over basil & parsley

Enjoy!