I’m Italian. Pizza is easily one of my favorite foods. If you don’t like pizza, we won’t be friends. No, seriously; my favorite restaurants in the city are no doubt places like Marta, Keste, and our neighborhood favorite, Salvo’s.  If you aren’t on a “getting lean” mission like I am, go there. If you are, just trust me, they are amazing. We will reunite someday….

Sorry, I  got off topic.

Anyway, in an effort to get lean in the kitchen, and make some crave-worthy food, I decided to jump on this spaghetti squash bandwagon I have been avoiding.

I just wasn’t grasping the concept of how a squash could actually pass off as a “pasta” or “pizza”. But, since we were getting lean, I knew I had to give it a shot.

I have made numerous spaghetti squash recipes, and I can’t wait to share them with you!

But to start, I am going to let you in on our FAVORITE one: spaghetti squash pizza. This recipe actually inspired me to start this blog. After I posted a picture of it on Instagram, I received so many texts asking for the recipe.

As always, this is an EASY recipe, and can be adjusted to what you have on hand.

Cook time: 45 minutes

Serving size: 2

What you need:

1 medium/large spaghetti squash (ultimately, you want at least 3 cups of cooked squash)

1.5 cups of lean meat (here I use Trader Joe’s soy chorizo-it’s amazeballs-see pic below)

1 cup tomato sauce (low sodium/sugar)

1 cup of raw greens (I like to use spinach or kale)

1/2 cup of part-skim mozzarella

2 eggs

1/2 tsp of oregano

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

1/4 tsp of paprika

parchment paper

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give for anyone wanted to make any spaghetti squash dish is cook the squash ahead of time.

I cook the squash at 350 for about an hour. Mostly because i’m running around the apartment doing other things, and probably cooking at least 2 or 3, but it does need a good while to cook through. If you anticipate making any squash dish during the week, just get this part out of the way. It will seriously cut down on the weekday cook time.

First, mix the squash, eggs, and spices together until combined. Transfer the “dough” onto the parchment paper, and smooth out to the shape of a pizza. Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes.

While this is cooking, you can get your toppings ready. We are OBSESSED with Trader Joe’s soy chorizo. I have been using this as our topping because it adds a little more flavor to the pizza. However, you can use whatever “meat” you’d like. I just heat it on the stove for a few minutes until it is cooked through

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I then gather up the kale and cheese, so we are ready to go once the “crust” is ready.

When the squash is ready, remove from the oven and evenly distribute your toppings.

Throw back in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.

DISCLAIMER: this is a fork and knife pizza! I have not yet perfected the crust so that it is crispy, so stayed tuned!

This is probably one of the most guilt-free dishes I have ever made. I can literally eat a full half of this and it counts for almost nothing since it mostly comprised of veggies!

Once again, this is a dish you can make your own. Feel free to add whatever you favorite topping is, but make sure to go easy on the cheese (I know, that’s the best part), but that is where the calories are going to come into play here.

Let me know if you try this recipe!

21DF peeps:

Half a pizza equals-2 green, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1 blue