Spaghetti Squash Is Not Pasta (and That's All Right With Me)

I keep pinning new recipes to my Pinterest Cooking board, so I have to keep trying new recipes.  I don't want my Cooking board to get too full.  Once I try a recipe, I move it to a different board.  I had found a recipe for spaghetti squash months ago but hadn't tried it.  Spaghetti squashes were on sale when I went to the grocery store so I decided to try the recipe.  I've had spaghetti squash before, but I didn't like it as a substitute for pasta.  I kind of have an issue with foods trying to be substitutes for other foods to make dishes more healthy or lower calorie (I refuse to use the word "skinny." I want to scream every time I hear that word used to describe food or drink.).  There's generally a reason I like a dish a specific way.  If I'm going to eat spaghetti squash, I'm going to eat squash--not fake pasta.

Because I can't leave well-enough alone, I started looking at more spaghetti squash recipes.  I stumbled across 2 baked dishes, one featuring squash with chard and another with squash as a Carbonara type dish.  I decided to mash-up the two recipes and see how it turned out.  They were pretty similar recipes with eggs & cheese as a base.  I love a good Carbonara dish, so I used that recipe as a start and threw in spinach (instead of chard) and some spices.

It turned out good. Lots of flavor, but not too rich or heavy.  I liked the combination of veggies with the eggs, cheese, and spices--a little rich but lots of freshness from the squash & spinach.

Here's my version of the dish:

Baked Spaghetti Squash & Spinach Carbonara

3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
4 cups uncooked baby spinach, torn into pieces
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
2 large eggs
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cups coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch (or similar) baking dish.

In a heavy skillet, cook the pancetta over medium heat until it starts to get crispy and much of the fat is rendered off.  Pour off much of the fat.  Add the onions and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs, then whisk in the ricotta. Fold in the cooked bacon, spinach, and onions, then 1/2 cup of grated cheese and the spices.

Mix the squash strings into the egg and onion mixture. Spread in the baking dish and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until firm and golden on top.  Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Baked Eggs & Peach Muffins

     Friday breakfast (though it should probably be called lunch since I ate closer to noon than breakfast time) was Baked Eggs with Spinach and Bacon.  The recipe is from a blog called Oven Love via my Pinterest Cooking Board.  The recipe called for crisp-cooked bacon, spinach, cheese, eggs, and a little cream.  What's not to love?

     The eggs tasted good, but there are a couple of changes I'd make next time.  The cream was unnecessary, I think.  It slowed down the cooking of the egg whites.  In order to get the whites fully cooked, I had to pop the dish back in the oven and leave it in for much longer than the recipe estimated.  I ended up with hard cooked yolks instead of soft, slightly runny yolks, which would have been much better.  The other change I'd make would be to reserve the bacon and add it to the top of the egg dish instead of putting it in the bottom of the dish with the spinach.  The bacon got rubbery under the eggs.  Crispy bacon crumbled on top of the eggs would have tasted much better.

     I want muffins! That's what I said to myself Saturday night around 10pm.  Since it was 10 o'clock at night and I wasn't even hungry, I did not make muffins, but I did look at some muffin recipes so I could make some for Sunday breakfast.  I chose the Perfect Blueberry Muffin recipe from Smitten Kitchen as my base and then mixed it up a bit.  I made these back in March when I was out in Bodega Bay for my aunt's birthday weekend.  They turned out really well.  I think everyone enjoyed them as there was only 1 left after brunch that day.  I, however, don't care much for blueberries.  I don't actively dislike them, but I'd rather have any number of other flavors than blueberry.  The base muffin recipe was great though, a little sweet but not too sweet and with a soft and slightly spongy texture so they don't fall apart easily.  I thought I'd try making them again but with some other fruit than blueberries.

     This worked out well since I don't have any blueberries on hand, so I couldn't have made blueberry muffins even if I wanted to.  In fact, I didn't have any fruit except some frozen peaches.  Hmmm, I thought. Peach muffins sound promising.  I followed the recipe closely with the exception of substituting chopped frozen peaches for the blueberries and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour.

     The muffins came out tasty, but a little light flavor-wise.  I think the peaches didn't have as strong a flavor as blueberries do.  The other flavoring in these muffins is lemon zest, which I included, but I think this batch of muffins would have been even better with the substitution of vanilla or almond extract for the lemon zest.  I think almond would be really good with peaches.  I would also chop the peaches finely.  I cut them into about a 1/2 inch dice.  Chopping them into smaller pieces would have dispersed the peach flavor better throughout the muffins.  The peach chunks weren't in every bite, so the flavor was uneven.  I also didn't like the texture of the large chunks of peach.  Every other bite I got this cold, slick piece of fruit amid the light and fluffy muffin.  The muffin texture was just as good as the first time I made this recipe, even with the addition of some whole wheat flour.

     Still, even though these aren't the best muffins, they satisfied my muffin craving.  They will probably be even better tomorrow morning split open, toasted, and topped with a little butter.  This recipe is a good muffin base recipe and would be good with many combinations of fruits and flavorings.  I'm thinking maybe vanilla with raspberries, cranberry-orange, or almond with apricot jam swirled into the batter.  Anyone have a favorite muffin recipe they'd like to share?

Dinner Report #1

Well, my friends, here is the first post of my Dinner Report blog--made just for you all. I've had lots of nice feedback from my friends on Facebook about the "dinner reports" I've posted. It's kind of cool since I was really posting things about what I'd made for dinner because, sadly, nothing more interesting happened on that day.

But, you know, I like to cook, so talking, or writing, about it is fun for me. I like trying new recipes, cooking old favorites, and tweaking recipes with good (and sometimes odd) results (like the time I mixed up cardamom and coriander in the recipe for Black Bean-Sweet Potato Burritos).

Anyway, here is the first recipe I'm posting. It was the last thing I posted about on Facebook, so I thought it appropriate to start with this one. The official title is Spinach and Sausage Deep-Dish Pie. We always just called it Spinach-Sausage Pie. I'm not sure where the recipe came from, originally. My mom cut it out of a magazine many years ago and pasted it onto a recipe card, but there's nothing to indicate which magazine.

Spinach-Sausage Pie

1 pound Italian Sausage, cooked and drained
4 beaten eggs
1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and well-drained
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Pie crust pastry (enough for a two crust pie)

1 beaten egg
1 Tbs. water

In a bowl, combine the four beaten eggs, the spinach, mozzarella, undrained cottage cheese, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir in sausage; set aside.

Prepare pie crust, set aside 1/3 of pastry. On a lightly flowered surface, roll out remaining pastry to a 14 inch square. Transfer to an 8x8x2 square baking pan; line with pastry. Fill with sausage mixture. Roll out reserved pastry to a 12 inch square. Place atop filling, folding edges under sides of bottom crust. Seal and flute edges.

Combine remaining egg and water; brush over pastry. Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Cover the edges of the crust with foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Notes:
I used an already prepared pie crust from the grocery store (I think it was Pillsbury.) I can make pie crust, but using the already made crust cut way down on prep time. I use part skim-milk mozarrella, low-fat cottage cheese, and non-fat milk, which cuts down the fat a little bit but doesn't affect the flavor or texture. Definitely allow the pie to rest before serving; this will give the filling time to set. This reheats fairly well in the microwave.

If you want to make your own pie crust, here's the basic pie crust recipe my mom always uses and which I use too.

Plain Pastry
from Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes, copyright Meredith Corporation 1966.

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
5 to 7 Tbs. cold water

Sift together flour and salt; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or fork until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 Tbs. water over part of mixture. Gently toss with fork; push to side of bowl. Sprinkle next Tbs. of water over dry part; mix lightly; push to moistened part at side.Repeat until all is moistened. Divide dough and form into two balls. Flatten ball on lightly floured surface. Roll from center to edge until dough is 1/8 inch thick.

I can remember my mom making this when I was a kid. I didn't care much for it because I didn't really like spinach or pie crust. My tastes have changed since then. I still don't want to eat a big ol' plate of spinach, but I like it in things, and I have developed a taste for pie crust too. I just wish I could develop a taste for all the super-healthy foods I happen to dislike too. I'm working on it.