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Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas & Garlicky Arugula Cream

5 from 4 reader reviews
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 2
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Ingredients

  • 1 medium spaghetti squash (mine weighed 1.25 kg)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • sea salt & ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts
  • ⅓ cup raw cashew butter
  • ½ cup filtered water
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
  • ½ teaspoon gluten-free tamari OR coconut aminos
  • 1 cup packed arugula, plus extra for serving
  • 1 medium shallot, small dice (about 1/2 cup diced shallot)
  • 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the halves face-up on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Season the squash with salt and pepper and slide the sheet into the oven. Roast the squash until tender strands start to pull away, about 40 minutes. Remove the seeds from the squash and set aside.
  • While the squash is roasting, toast the pine nuts in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Once pine nuts are golden brown, remove them and set aside.
  • Make the arugula cream: In an upright blender combine the cashew butter, water, garlic, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, tamari, arugula, salt, and pepper. Blend this mixture on high for about 45 seconds, or until totally smooth and fluid. Check the cream for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Transfer the cream to a sealable container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • Return the medium sauté pan with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil to the stove over medium heat. Add the shallots to the pan and cook, stirring often, until very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the chickpeas to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Once the chickpeas are warmed through, stir in the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice.
  • To serve, place warm squash halves on plates and gently pull out some strands of "spaghetti" to make a pocket of sorts. Divide chickpea mixture between both squash halves. Drizzle garlicky arugula cream over both servings, and garnish with toasted pine nuts and extra arugula

Equipment

Recipe Notes

  • This recipe makes extra sauce (almost all of my recipes do because extra sauce is obviously great to have on hand), so if you decided to double the squash, chickpeas, shallots etc., there would definitely be enough sauce for 4 servings.
  • If you want to try a nut-free version, I'd replace the cashew butter in the sauce with tahini and add a bit of maple syrup or other sweetener to the sauce. The toasted pine nuts on top could be replaced with any toasted seed that you like
Stuffed spaghetti squash with chickpeas and garlicky arugula cream is a low fuss, super satiating and flavourful vegan meal.