Italian Turkey and Spaghetti Squash Pie

Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? It's emerged over the past few years as a great, low carb alternative to pasta. It's great because it doesn't have much of a flavor on its on, and it tends to take on whatever flavor you cook it with. It also doesn't leave you with that heavy and bloated feeling that pasta usually does. And it's a vegetable!!!

I've had spaghetti squash at restaurants before, but I was nervous to tackle the task of making it myself. I have to say it was fairly easy. I think the most difficult part was cutting the squash in half before baking it. After searching for a fairly easy recipe to try to this with, I found one on weightwatchers.com that sounded like something Eddie, my picky eater, might actually find edible. Well, he ended up really liking it! 

I actually ended up using an extra 1/4 pound of turkey and extra shredded cheese because my spaghetti squash was on the larger side. I also ended up using a larger casserole dish so everything could fit well. So here it is along with the link:

Italian Turkey and Spaghetti Squash Pie

Serves 6

Ingredients:

- 1 medium uncooked spaghetti squash
- 1/2 pound ground turkey breast
- 2 tsp olive oil   
- 1 small onion, chopped   
- 1 (medium) garlic clove, minced   
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained   
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning, or more to taste   
- 6 oz fat-free ricotta cheese   
- 1 large eg 
- cooking spray, nonstick   
- 1/2 cup shredded fat free mozzarella cheese 

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Halve squash lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Place squash, cut sides down, in a large baking dish and prick skin all over with a fork. Bake until tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, cook turkey, stirring occasionally, in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain, remove from skillet and set aside.
  
• In a same skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; add cooked turkey and simmer, stirring often, until desired consistency, about 5 minutes.
  
• Place ricotta and egg in a food processor or blender; puree until smooth.
  
• Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Remove squash from oven and increase oven temperature to 375ºF.
  
• Using a fork, carefully rake stringy squash pulp from shell, separating it into strands that look like spaghetti. Arrange spaghetti squash strands in bottom and up sides of pie plate to form a crust.
  
• Add ricotta cheese mixture and gently spread over squash. Pour tomato-turkey sauce over cheese mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 6 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Source: https://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=%2099791