Spaghetti Squash Pizza

Pizza is one of my favorite foods. When I was in college I would eat pizza several times a week. Too bad I came to the realization that pizza isn't very healthy (especially not if you're eating it for 7 meals during the week). We still get pizza every once in awhile, but we try to stick to foods that are both healthier and cheaper. Eating out or ordering in can get pretty spendy.

Luckily, I recently figured out a real gem of a recipe when brainstorming how to use the remaining 30 spaghetti squash before summer arrives. (Yes, we still have that many squash in March - gardening saves us lots of money!)

I didn't have high expectations for a squash pizza, but what the heck, might as well try it, right? Let me tell you, I LOVED IT!!! It's not quite the same as a thick crust pizza or as a crunchy thin crust, but it definitely tastes like pizza and has a fairly similar texture. It might be my new favorite recipe given the great taste, the nutrition (can you say calorie savings?), and the overall cheapness. The only con is that you definitely have to plan ahead, it takes a bit of time, but doesn't everything good take extra time?

What you'll need:

Spaghetti Squash (2 Cups or 1 Med Squash)
1-2 Cloves Garlic/Garlic Powder (Pureed)
1/2-1 Med Onion/Onion Flakes (Pureed)
1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp Oregano
0.25 C Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs
Cheese (As much or little as you like)
Tomato Sauce/Marinara Sauce
Your Favorite pizza toppings

Start with a cooked spaghetti squash (For help check out our post/video) and place into a bowl. Ideally, you will have two concentric sized Pyrex bowls. In order to reduce the cook time, draining water from your squash is essential. You can drain without the bowls, but you may be left with unwanted moisture.

Once your squash has been drained, we can start mixing the eggs, parmesan, pureed garlic and onion (or powders), and the red pepper flakes. You'll want to mix this well to have an even distribution in your crust. 

Next, you'll want to a well greased cookie cheese or pan. Spread the squash mixture evenly to a thickness of ~1/2". Bake for ~30min at 350. 

Now that your crust is done, let's add the toppings. Here is where you can get really creative. We used sausage, cheese, and tomato sauce for this one, but your options are limitless. A few ideas:

Buffalo Chicken

Chicken Alfredo

Mozzarella and Spinach

Peppers and Onions

Pepperoni

Once you have your toppings placed. Bake for another 5-10 minutes to heat and melt the cheese. Enjoy!! 

Below are nutrition facts for the pizza we made. It's not super low in calories, but much lower than a regular pizza. We also probably should have split it up to 4 servings, but this is what we ate (we were stuffed). It's high in protein, fiber, and loads of other nutrients! I couldn't find a pizza place that listed other nutrients. There's a lot of room to make this healthier too. If we used chicken instead of sausage we would have saved a lot of fat, sodium and calories. We could have used less cheese too (but I'm willing to splurge a little) 

 

Let us know if you liked it or what you're favorite toppings were!