Light Spaghetti Squash Gratin

I have a new love interest. He's short and squat and quite a bit yellow. He hangs around with the vegetables in the garden but, when you get him home to the privacy of your kitchen, he turns into pasta. Dreamy, forbidden, empty carbs, pasta. Yes, my new love is a veggie in a carb suit. What's not to love about that?

Trying spaghetti squash has been on my to-do list for so long I'd almost forgotten about it. But, since we're trying to eat lighter around here, I finally got around to tossing one of those babies into the oven. After an hour, I took it out, let it cool just long enough to handle and cut it in half with a large serrated knife. I scooped out the seeds, got a large fork and proceeded to scrape the flesh to see if it would, indeed, turn into spaghetti. It did!

I gave it a quick taste just to see what I was dealing with. It was bland, of course, because I hadn't seasoned it yet but I was more curious about the texture. I'm a big veggie fan so I was pretty confident I'd like the taste but the texture gave me some pause. Would it be stringy? Would it turn to mush? Happily the answer to both was no. I quickly tossed it with some olive oil and Parmesan cheese and ate it all...an entire squash! The next day I bought another one and began experimenting with my new obsession. I started with a light gratin and I've been making it and eating it and making it and eating it again and again. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 Spaghetti squash
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 Cup low fat milk
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons scallions or chives, chopped
1/4 Cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs
2 Teaspoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Using a large fork, pierce the skin of the squash several times and roast in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool enough to handle. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise, with a serrated knife. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. Scrape the remaining flesh with a fork until it shreds into a spaghetti like texture.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the garlic. Cook on low heat for a couple of minutes until it begins to soften. Add the flour and whisk to incorporate it into the butter. Add the milk and whisk continuously until the butter/flour mixture is fully incorporated and there are no lumps. The sauce will thicken. Add in the Parmesan cheese and herbs and remove from the heat. When the squash is cooked and shredded, add it to the sauce, mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the olive oil and sprinkle on top of the squash mixture. Bake in a 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are a light golden brown. Makes about 2 generous servings.