Make This Gluten-Free Creamy Avocado Pesto and Spaghetti Squash for Dinner
As some of you many know from my Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free and (Nearly) Sugar-Free Confetti Cake recipe, I’ve been eating a regimented diet (grumble, grumble) for the past six months and am on the hunt for delicious foods I can actually eat! Enter this crowd-pleasing creamy avocado pesto — the perfect topping for my favorite spaghetti alternative: the spaghetti squash. This dish will fill you up guilt free and it’s a great dinner party recipe; I got five-star reviews from friends and colleagues. So if you are looking to serve up a delicious meal that is low cost, SUPER easy and qualifies as a be-back (a recipe you will make over and over again), this is your new go-to concoction.
- Ingredients:
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup packed fresh basil
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup pecorino cheese
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds, brush inside with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on top and cook face down on a baking sheet for 30-45 minutes, until cooked through.
2. In a food processor or blender, add avocado, basil, olive oil, walnuts, garlic, lemon and salt. Blend to combine.
3. When the spaghetti squash is cooked, flip over each half and scrape the inside with a fork to create “spaghetti.”
4. Top your spaghetti squash with avocado pesto, mix and enjoy!
Make sure to use a sharp knife to cut through your squash. Those suckers can be tough! Next, scoop out the innards.
Brush olive oil onto the flesh of the squash and then sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Perhaps you could roast the seeds and see if they’re as good as pumpkin seeds. We fully support experiments :)
This recipe doubles well, so if you are making this for your #squad, feel free to double or even triple it.
Check the flavor of your pesto and then add more of any ingredient you want to stand out. Sometimes a really cheesy pesto is what you crave and sometimes a nuttier blend is the ticket. Follow your heart… and your taste buds.
Make sure your squash is nice and toasty. We love a little bit of brown for a more caramelly flavor.
Isn’t spaghetti squash THE COOLEST (said in a poorly impersonated Billy Madison voice)?!
An entire half will fill you up, so if you’re not using the squash itself for presentation purposes, scoop the squash out of the skin and serve it from a bowl.
This also saves well covered in the fridge, so eat the other half for lunch the next day!
What else will you put in your spaghetti squash? Show us your concoctions by tagging us on Instagram using the hashtag #iamcreative!
