My parents grow lots of vegetables in their garden. A few weeks ago they gave Ayoe and I a spaghetti squash when they dropped by for a visit. Neither of us knew what to do with this alien vegetable so it has been sitting on our kitchen table for a while. Tonight was my turn to cook dinner (Ayoe and I share cooking duty) so I decided to give the spaghetti squash a try. Since I had no clue what to do with it I decided to consult with my good friend Google. Google was smart as usual and suggested this recipe by Claudia Krempp of Plainfield, IL. Because I didn’t have all the ingredients I decided to modify the recipe a little. Below is my variation of the recipe.
The dish turned out very tasty. The spaghetti squash had an interesting taste, it was very crunchy yet soft. Both Ayoe and I really like the sauce. You could also substitute the spaghetti squash with your choice of pasta.
INGREDIENTS
1 spaghetti squash
Olive oil
A few slices of bacon (I like bacon so I used 10+ slices…Mmmm me like! :D)
4 chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly grounded black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red chili pepper
1 small bowl of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
3 – 4 tablespoons tomato sauce
A handful of frozen spinach
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Direcctions
1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F )
2. Cut squash into quarters and discard seeds. Place squash quarters in a baking pan. Add water about 1 cm deep. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn the squash over and bake for another 30 minutes. Take the squash out from the oven and let it cool. Scrape the inside of the squash with a fork to remove the “spaghetti”. You can keep the squash warm by throwing it back into the baking pan and place it back in the oven. Make sure you cover the squash with water so it doesn’t burn.
3. Pre-heat a large non-stick pan and add bacon. Cook until your desired level of crispiness. Remove bacon from pan and place it on a paper towel to soak up the grease. Let cool and crumble into small pieces.
4. Clean the non-stick pan, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic to pan. Cook the garlic for about 1 minute, stir frequently. Once the garlic gives out aroma add chicken and red chili pepper and continue stirring until the chicken pieces are thoroughly cooked.
5. Add mushrooms into pan, continue stirring. Cook until the mushrooms soften.
6. Add tomato sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring occasionally.
7. Add white wine and bring it to a boil to evaporate the alcohol.
8. Add spinach, continue stirring and cook for 1 minute.
9. Stir in 1/4 cup of cheese. Add salt & pepper for seasoning.
10. Serve by placing “spaghetti” on a plate and top each plate with the sauce and the remaining cheese.
Enjoy!
-Bob