Cooking With Emilia: Fake Pasta
Hi Everyone! It's me, I'm back, and I'm cooking more than ever. No joke though. Today I set out to rectify the lack of spag in my last video by cooking a spaghetti squash pasta dish with pesto, tomatoes, and chicken. Unlike my Bol, No Spag, my spaghetti squash pasta requires a lot of prep work — and thus time — before you leave it to cook, so you definitely have to plan around it. However, the result is delightful, and the time is well worth it.
Check it out — "Fake Pasta" lays ahead:
Fake Pasta. Time — 2hrs. Difficulty — Advanced Beginner
For the Fake Pasta
- Spaghetti Squash
- Herbes de Provence
- 1 punnett Cherry Tomatoes
- Pesto
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 or 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 chopped Shallot
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Bocconcini or parmesan (optional)
For the chicken:
- Chicken Drumsticks
- 2 or 3 Cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Full Grain Mustard
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce, or Coconut Aminos
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Honey
- Salt and Pepper
- Rosemary
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC)
- Combine the ingredients for the chicken marinade, and coat the chicken drumsticks. Set aside.
- Cut in half and gut the spaghetti squash. Spray with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence. Position the two spaghetti squash halves face down on a baking tray (rind up).
- Place both the squash and the chicken in the preheated oven for 1 HR.
- Halfway through cooking, flip the drumsticks for an even cook.
- After an hour, remove the squash from the oven and turn it off. Keep the chicken warm by keeping it in the cooling oven while you prepare the pasta.
- Over medium heat, sauté the crushed garlic and chopped shallot in olive oil, in a pot large enough to hold the squash. While this is cooking, shred the inside of the squash to create a spaghetti-like texture. Empty the shredded squash into the pot with the shallot and garlic, and stir until fully incorporated.
- Add pesto, salt, pepper, and crushed pepper flakes to taste. Bring to a simmer to let any excess water evaporate from the squash.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Bring the spaghetti squash off the heat, and incorporate tomatoes.
- Take the chicken out of the oven. Plate and serve immediately.
Don't forget — once everything is out of the oven you should be tasting at every step of the way! I do a lot of my cooking by eye, and it's always important to keep tabs on your flavours so that your dish turns out well. This is crucial because squash can be very sweet, but you're cooking a savoury dish. To finish the dish off, you can top the squash with parmesan or bocconcini (small balls of mozzarella). Or, if you're a purist like me, eat it as is.
Happy cooking!
- Emilia
Feature image via.
