Spaghetti Squash Pizza! Yes, It’s Real!

When it comes to pizza, many of us have seen it all. First, there was pizza. Just regular white dough pizza. That was the pizza of my youth. That was the Friday night-best friend-sleepover- birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese-order Dominos freshman year with my girlfriends-pizza. But after that, pizza got more complicated. Sure, there was the super un-healthy-extra sodium laden-cheese stuffed crust that many fast food entities fell victim to serving. However, then came…HEALTHY pizza. Or healthier. Pizza was being served with WHOLE WHEAT crust, so it was heartier and had more fiber. Restaurants (and patrons) were eating it up. Next, everyone became afraid of wheat, and pizza turned up a new phenomenon..gluten free crust! So you could have a pizza that didn’t have any wheat in it all! (And no fiber, but its GLUTEN-FREE so who cares, right? 😉 )

Well, a new age has dawned, and pizza is now not only gluten free…it can be essentially DOUGH-FREE and be considered a pizza! Sure, you can have a pizza with a crust made from spinach or cauliflower…or even spaghetti squash! A veggie based pizza! Sounds crazy, right? It kind of is…so of course I wanted to attempt to create this spaghetti squash crust pizza.

To be fair with you, it was not very hard. HOWEVER, my problem with this concept is spaghetti squash has water in it, and no matter how much you try to strain out EVERY LAST DROP…you. just. can’t. So at the end of the day this is a tasty concept and I do recommend it, but bring a fork along with you, because you do actually have to use a fork with this pizza.

At the end of the day, ONCE IN AWHILE, there is nothing wrong with having good ole’ fashioned regular pizza. But if you are the kind of person who craves pizza on a regular basis, this is a very worthwhile recipe to try. You could also play around with the toppings. Sliced chicken, green peppers and kalamata olives was a close second choice to this bad boy.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza

Crust

4 cups cooked spaghetti squash (2 small)
1 cup mozzarella (partly skim/shredded)
1 egg
2 egg whites
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 tsp italian seasoning, dried
sea salt & pepper

Toppings

1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/4 onion, diced
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1 cup fresh spinach, torn
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (shredded)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line pizza pan with parchment paper (VERY IMPORTANT!). Set aside.
Press your spaghetti squash in a strainer to get out any excess moisture (or use cheesecloth).
In a large bowl, combine spaghetti squash, mozzarella cheese, egg & egg whites, garlic, and spices. Mix together until well combined.
Let it sit for a few minutes – if you notice a lot of liquid gathering in the bottom of the bowl then drain it off.
Press the squash mixture evenly into the prepared pizza pan.

Bake at 400F for 12 – 15 minutes, until the crust appears more or less dry.
While the crust is baking – saute the mushrooms and onion in a fry pan until mushrooms are soft and onions are translucent. Remove from heat.
Remove pizza crust from oven.

Spread the pizza sauce over the crust. Spread your onion and mushrooms and spinach over the sauce. Top with the Parmesan cheese.

Return to 400 degree oven and bake another 10 – 15 minutes or so – until cheese is bubbly and edges of crust are browned.

Let sit for about 10 minutes before cutting. You can use the parchment paper to slide it off the pan to make it easier to cut.

Also, I didn’t mention this before, but because spaghetti squash has water in it and no amount of straining will entirely get rid of it, this pizza is going to be best eaten with a fork, or at least part of it. It is delicious nonetheless!

Enjoy!