Foodie Friday: Spaghetti Squash Pizza (Sort of)

I'm going to begin this post with a disclaimer. I am not a food blogger. Repeat, I am not a food blogger, but my respect for food bloggers has risen exponentially after putting this post together. Friends, posting about cooking, rather than my usual writing about food, is a lot harder than it appears. And then there's the pictures, which look like a seventh grade project, if the seventh grader had never used a cell phone camera. All that aside, I had a good adventure with spaghetti squash last week and I would like to share it.

One of my goals this winter has been to cook more and to try vegetables that I am not familiar with. I've so far become adept at roasting brussel sprouts, as well as braising fennel with onions and oranges. When my Weight Watchers buddy Blaire suggested a spaghetti squash pizza, I rose to the challenge. I had never made spaghetti squash before, but how difficult could it be? I learned cooking spaghetti squash wasn't difficult. Making it into pizza was the problem.

The spaghetti squash waiting to be cooked.

 

Both Blaire and my college roommate, Jane, recommended microwaving the squash, but since I had the oven on -- love the warmth of the oven in the winter -- for another project I roasted the squash in the oven. I did pierce it a few times, to prevent a squash explosion. The recipe suggested cutting it in half before roasting, but I couldn't hack it apart without doing myself bodily harm. As the photo below shows, it did just fine.

 

  

 

I followed the recipe and prepared the "crust." This is the crust after baking. The edges are nice and crispy as described in the recipe. Unfortunately the center isn't pizza crust crispy. I should have covered the edges with aluminum foil and put the "crust" back in the oven for another ten minutes or so. The taste was great, but it wasn't crispy enough to be pizza.   

 

 

 

I added a layer of tomato sauce and sautéed olives, onions and turkey sausage. I baked it for another ten minutes for the flavors to come together.  

 

 

Not exactly pizza, but a great casserole for a winter day. It was filling, tasted great, healthy, and I had two more meals that only needed heating up. It met my goal of introducing a new vegetable to my menus and being easy to cook. The squash itself doesn't have a lot of flavor, but would work well with different seasonings. We've got another cold week ahead and I may try to master making "pizza" crust.  

 

I know I said I wouldn't complain about the weather, but it has been cold, really cold. I take solace in knowing that spring is only six weeks away and I am thrilled that it's light until 5:30. One thing that perked me up this morning was featuring Miss Fluffy in her pretty red outfit for The American Heart Association's Go Red for Women event. This annual effort raises awareness about heart disease and women and encourages everyone to wear red.

 



 Miss Fluffy is asking you to take good care of your heart 

 

 

Please stop by tomorrow for Pink Saturday fun. As always, take care and keep cozy!