This is a really filling, cheesy baked casserole that tastes like potato hash browns with cheese in it.
It’s very morish, but that’s not a problem, because it’s not
fattening — a half a pound (250 g) serving is just 3 Weight Watchers
PointsPlus®.
You can make this up to a day ahead. It’s a great addition to a
buffet meal table. It’s also really good at breakfast (make the night
before and reheat.)
You can bake it in an oven or in a slow cooker.
You can easily double and triple the recipe.
Number of servings: 6 servings of 1 cup (250 g) each.
Estimated Prep Time:
20 minutes Cooking at: 375 F / 190 C / Gas Mark 5
Ingredients
1 Spaghetti Squash (large) (1.5 kg / 3.3 pounds)
1 Onion (medium, minced)
1/4 teaspoon Chile Flakes
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 cup Broth (or water)
4 oz Cheddar Cheese (grated, low-fat)
1/2 cup Sour Cream (low-fat)
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Parsley (dried)
Directions
Wash the outside of the squash, cut it in half lengthwise and scoop
/ scrape out all the seeds. Place cut-sides down in a dish that can be
covered. Add 1/2 inch (1 cm) of water, cover, then place in microwave
and nuke for about 14 minutes. When done, set aside to cool. (Tip: if
you can do this at least an hour or two before you do the rest of the
recipe, you’ll be glad you did.)
Mince the onion. Spray a non-stick frying pan lightly, add the onion,
chile flakes, thyme, black pepper and broth, and cook the onion slowly
until soft.
Meanwhile grate the cheese. Reserve 1/4 of it to one side. Mix the
other three-quarters of the cheese with the sour cream, the garlic
powder, the salt and the parsley. Set aside.
Lightly spray a 2 litre (8 cup) casserole dish; set aside.
When the squash halves are cool enough to comfortably handle, take a
fork and shred the insides quite close to the skin but not piercing the
skin. Add this shredded squash flesh to the cheese and sour cream
mixture, stir well, and turn into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle
the reserved cheese around the top.
Pop into oven and bake for 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, turn the broiler on for 5 minutes to bubble and brown the top.
[Tip: Alternatively, bake in a lightly-sprayed slow cooker on low for
about 2 to 3 hours. Test the time the first time out in your crockpot.
Or, consider baking it in muffin tins for easy individual servings.]
Serve piping hot.