Pesto spinach stuffed spaghetti squash

Pesto spinach stuffed spaghetti squash, Whole in One: Complete, Healthy Meals in a Single Pot, Sheet Pan, or Skillet by Ellie Krieger. Photos by Randi Baird.

We want the food we love and we want to be healthy, but who has the time or energy to figure it all out? James Beard Award winner and bestselling cookbook author Ellie Krieger shows you how to create a meal in a single pot, sheet pan, baking dish, or skillet—no additional gadgets or tools required. Divided by main—ingredients meat, poultry, seafood, vegetarian, dessert—and further separated into sheet pan, baking dish, skillet, and pot-cooked meals, the 125 nutritionally complete dinner recipes (plus healthy desserts) can each be prepared simply.

Whole in One puts home-cooked meals within reach by minimizing the workload on both ends of the dinner process—cooking and clean-up—with one-pot dishes that check every box. Minimal steps? Check. Crowd-pleasing flavours? Check. Easy-to-find ingredients? Check. Nutritionally complete? Check. Breezy cleanup? Check.

Whole in One: Complete, Healthy Meals in a Single Pot, Sheet Pan, or Skillet is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.

Pesto spinach stuffed spaghetti squash

This dish turns roasted spaghetti squash into an edible bowl filled with a sumptuous, easy-to-make spinach-ricotta mixture that’s seasoned with basil pesto and topped with mozzarella cheese. A key here is using good-quality prepared pesto—homemade if you have it on hand, but store-bought certainly works, too. When choosing pesto at the store, I suggest getting one from the refrigerator case, which is much fresher tasting than the kind in jars on the shelf.

As you dig into the dish, the squash naturally reveals the noodlelike texture that gives it its name, and each forkful includes a generous bite of the creamy, herby spinach filling and melted mozzarella. The recipe serves four for a light meal, but if you are especially hungry, go for a double portion as my husband usually does

1 medium-size spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 (16-ounce) package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed

1/2 cup prepared basil pesto

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise (to make the squash easier to cut, heat it, whole, in a microwave for 1 minute to soften it), scoop out and discard the seeds, and brush the cut sides with the oil. Place, cut side down, on a sheet pan and cook until softened, about 40 minutes.
While the squash cooks, make the filling: Put the spinach into a fine-mesh strainer and press out as much of the liquid as possible. (You can discard the liquid or save it to use in soups or smoothies.) Put the spinach in a medium-size bowl along with the pesto, ricotta cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.
When the squash is ready, flip it over on the sheet pan so it sits cut side up and fill both cavities with the spinach mixture. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of each squash half and return the pan to the oven. Bake until the cheese is melted and browned in spots, about 20 minutes more.
Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then cut each half lengthwise and serve. The cooked squash will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Makes 4 servings

SERVING SIZE: 1/4 squash

PER SERVING: Calories 340; Total Fat 21 g (Sat Fat 6 g, Mono Fat 10 g, Poly Fat 3 g); Protein 16 g; Carb 28 g; Fiber 7 g; Cholesterol 20 mg; Sodium 740 mg; Total Sugar 10 g (Added Sugar 0 g)

EXCELLENT SOURCE OF calcium, fibre, folate, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, protein, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K

GOOD SOURCE OF copper, iron, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamine, zinc