“Pasta” Without All Those Damn “Carbs”: Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Herb Mushroom Sauce
In a family with lots of I-talians, I grew up eating quite a bit of pasta. To this day, I can’t go very long without craving tomato sauce, pesto, or just about anything sauce-y.
However, I don’t love the idea of having pasta on a regular basis. Are you with me?
It’s heavy, starchy, and if you have the common white, processed pasta, it’s nutrition profile is pretty lame too. And if you’re all about eating Paleo, fugghedaboutit!
Enter my sneaky “weekday pasta” or “guilt-free pasta”: the spaghetti squash. This lovely winter gourd is such an awesome way to get your fill of tasty sauces (and sneak in more veggies) without horsing down tons of starchy pasta.
Check out today’s recipe to find out how to easily make this sneaky fella:
Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Herb Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3-4 lbs), cut lengthwise
3 tbsp grass-fed butter
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
3 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices and each slice halved
6 large cremini or white button mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp minced fresh Italian parsley
1/8 tsp fresh thyme
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Slice squash in half lengthwise. Pierce outside of squash with a fork in a few spots.
- Place squash in oven-proof pan, cut side facing down. Roast for 50-70 minutes until squash is tender falls away in strings like spaghetti when you run a fork down it.
- Meanwhile…heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat.
- Add shallots and saute for about 5 minutes, until golden.
- Add mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes, until soft.
- Stir in wine and chicken broth and cook until liquid reduced to about 6 tablespoons.
- Stir in parsley and thyme. (If you want to get fancier, add a smidge of heavy cream here and stir until heated through.)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.
Serves 2 for a main meal or 4 for a side or tapas-style dish.
What’s your favorite pasta sauce?
15 Comments
Been meaning to cook Spaghetti squash..thanks for this. Looks great! I LIKE it
This mushroom sauce is amazing…ymm
Healthy and all done in under an hour !! Gordiculous !! Thanks for sharing.
Heather, what a great recipe! Its always fantastic finding new, healthier versions of existing foods.
Thanks for a great squash recipe- there are many wonderful properties of squash but I am yet to try a decent recipe like this. Squash is a great source of carotenoids (converted into vitamin A in the body), vitamin B, potassium, folate, vitamin C and fibre- so awesome for anti-inflammatory, for eye and hearth health and may be an anti-cancer agent. Winter squash has a slightly higher county of nutrients than summer squash, also.
Instead of pasta last night we cooked paprika quinoa with our chicken and steamed vegetables.
Quinoa is wonderful because of its high nutrient levels- the ancient Incas referred to it as the “mother grain” and revered it as sacred! I have quinoa instead of the starchy pasta like you mentioned before, because it is high in protein, calcium, iron, vitamin E, many B vitamins and a balanced set of the 8 essential amino acids. Also like your recipe, it is great for people with gluten, dairy, nut and soy allergies and intolerances.
Thanks again for the great post!
Health and happiness,
Vanessa <3
I am doing my first spaghetti squash tonight! (Woops, I should have said “cook”) Thanks for the vid, Heather. I’ve always ordered it at a wonderful vegan restaurant in NYC named Counter. It unfortunately shut down. I have craved it ever since and am excited to take it on.
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