Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Wow, so glad summer break is here! This past school year had a lot of great moments in it, but it was probably the most difficult teaching year I've had so far. That's why I have had only one blog post since January! Mentally, emotionally and physically, I was too exhausted to care about what I was eating or cooking. In fact, I didn't even feel like cooking most nights of the week. Which was hard to deal with because I love to cook! Thankfully now, I have much less stress and have time to try out recipes that take more preparation or ingredients. Enter last nights dinner. All in all, not a difficult recipe but because it uses spaghetti squash, I would consider it time-consuming for the average person.

Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
2 plum tomatoes, chopped (or 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained)
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

1. Using a very sharp knife, cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Then scrape out the gooey innards and seeds and discard. I just dig my hands into it...kinda fun!

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Spray a 9x13 with cooking spray, then place spaghetti squash face down. Baked for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then scrape squash strands into a large bowl. (I swear, this was the easiest time I ever had cooking spaghetti squash!)

3. Warm EVOO in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and basil and cook for 3-4 minutes, until onion begins to get translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook another 3-4 minutes, until mixture is dry.

4. To the bowl with the squash, add the cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, parsley and salt. Mix well. Add in the onion mixture. Then pour into the 9x13. Sprinkle with parmesan and breadcrumbs, then bake for 30 minutes.

*I didn't have seasoned bread crumbs, just the plain ones. So I used that and sprinkled Italian Seasoning over it. Tasted great!