spaghetti squash with bacon, cheese, beans, and greens

My friends and I threw these together during a recent northern getaway. In a small cabin by the frozen lake, we sat down to steaming squash bowls and shoveled hearty forkfuls of it into our mouths until we were scraping the shells clean. 

This meal is so filling and nourishing, yet delightfully low-maintenance. While the squash roasts cut-side down, get the other ingredients prepped. This includes dressing and tenderizing your kale with olive oil and lemon juice. From there, it’s a matter of dumping everything into the partially roasted squash halves: butter, garlic, sage, brown sugar, ricotta, kale, white beans, and mozzarella cheese. 

Send it back to the oven, and if you’re into it, fry up some bacon for topping your bowls. Use a fork to tease the squash into fluffy spaghetti and mix all ten layers together before digging in. 

I love the balance of indulgent and clean eating here: the brown sugar and bacon and cheese makes you swoon while the squash, kale, and beans sustain you. It’s hearty enough to have for brunch or lunch before setting off on a winter hike, but it also sits light enough to not weigh you down.

Watch the video!

10-layer stuffed spaghetti squash

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash

olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon butter, divided

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped and divided

A few sage leaves, finely chopped and divided

1 tablespoon brown sugar, divided

2 big scoops ricotta (about 1/3 cup total)

2 handfuls of chopped kale

lemon juice 

1/2 cup white beans, divided

About 20 fresh mozzarella pearls (or a few slices of a ball of fresh mozz)

2 strips bacon (skip for a vegetarian dish)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Cut the stem off the squash, then cut the squash in half. 

2. Oil the squash halves and season with salt and pepper. Then place the halves cut-side down on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 25–30 minutes.

3. While the squash roasts, mince the garlic and sage and set aside. In a bowl, combine the kale with a glug of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Use your hands to combine, massaging the kale to tenderize it. Set aside.

4. Take the partially roasted squash from the oven and flip the halves over. Fill each half with 1/2 tablespoon butter, 1 chopped clove of garlic, half the chopped sage, 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 scoop ricotta, half the dressed kale, 1/4 cup white beans, and half the mozzarella.

5. Put the squash back in the oven, cut-side up, for 20-25 minutes. 

6. While the squash roasts, fry up the bacon. Then let it cool on a paper towel before chopping it into small pieces. Top the roasted squash with the bacon.

7. Use your fork to gently tease the cooked squash into spaghetti-like strands. Mix everything together right there in the squash shell, making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Then dig in!