The Urban Vegetarian, Desiree Nielsen, is a nutritionist by trade and a foodie at heart. She loves to cook and has a knack for making easy-to-follow breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes. For this recipe, she ditches the carbs for her ‘pasta’, turning instead to the almost magical spaghetti squash and topping it with a healthy white bean and kale ragout.
Serves 3-4, as a main
Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash
1 head garlic, for roasting (only using 3 cloves)
Olive oil, for roasting
Salt and pepper
1 red onion, sliced thinly
2 cups (470 ml) kale leaves, chopped
1 can (15-ounce/425 g) chopped tomatoes, with juice
1 can (15-ounce/425 g) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon (5 ml) chopped fresh thyme
Red pepper flakes, for topping (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Brush spaghetti squash halves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pierce flesh all over with a fork.
Place the spaghetti squash halves, cut side down, on a baking tray.
Cut the top end off a head of garlic, exposing the cloves, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil and add to baking tray with spaghetti squash.
Transfer to oven and roast for 40 minutes or until the squash is tender and the garlic is golden and soft.
When spaghetti squash is cooked and slightly cooled, run a fork along the flesh to create the strands of ‘spaghetti’. Add strands to a bowl.
Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté red onion 1-2 minutes until starting to brown.
Add chopped kale and three cloves of the roasted garlic (reserve the remainder for another use).
Pour over chopped tomatoes with juice and the cannellini beans and cook 5-6 minutes, until the kale is somewhat tender and a sauce has formed.
Season with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.
To serve, spoon the ragout over spaghetti squash strands.
Finish with chili flakes, if desired.
Enjoy!
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