Spaghetti squash is an excellent pasta replacement – and goes beautifully with shrimp for a slightly sweet, slightly nutty low carb pasta replacement that only tastes like you’re breaking your low carb diet.
This dinner is simple enough to make any night of the week, and can be dressed up for dinner parties, guests, or even a low carb holiday dinner. (This would be an awesome low carb addition to a traditional fish feast for Christmas or Lent!)
I personally love serving spaghetti squash in it’s rind for the fun, interesting look – but that is totally optional. This dish is delicious in the rind, in a bowl, on a plate – or right out of the pan! And it’s so simple, you can even make the spaghetti squash ahead of time and then just sautee it all together with the shrimp if you’re making a big batch for a party.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 squash, spaghetti style
- 1 lb shrimp, shells removed, cleaned, and deveined
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup white whine, dry
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice spaghetti squash in half, scoop out stringy pulp and seeds, discard.
- Place halves, face up, on baking sheet.
- Pour water on bottom of baking sheet.
- Place pats of butter in squash halves.
- Bake 40 minutes to an hour, until squash is tender to the touch. If squash is not yet tender, continue to cook.
- When squash is soft, remove from oven and let cool until it is comfortable to handle, about 20 minutes.
- While squash is cooling, start cooking shrimp scampi.
- In a large pan, melt butter and add garlic on medium heat.
- Cook until garlic is fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes.
- When butter is melted, add shrimp, spices, and wine, and cook until shrimp is pink and opaque, about 8 minutes, stirring often.
- While shrimp is cooking, run a fork through squash to form spaghetti-like strings.
- Shred squash all the way to bottom of squash rind – but do not pierce rind (if serving in the rind as a “boat”).
- When shrimp is cooked, add squash “spaghetti” strings to pan and toss over high heat until well mixed.
- Spoon back into squash rind “boats”.
- Top with parsley and parmesan cheese.
- Serve Immediately.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Calories 324
Total Fat 17g
Saturated Fat 10g
Trans Fat 1g
Unsaturated Fat 6g
Cholesterol 200mg
Sodium 870mg
Carbohydrates 20g
Fiber 3g
Sugar 4g
Protein 20g
