Tis the season for comfort food, am I right? Warm flavors, aromatic spices, snuggly snuggles, big bowls of cheesy pasta, crackling fireplaces. All of it. I love all of it!

I’m not gonna lie, I weird-ed myself out a lil bit with this creation here, but I’m not regretting it. I’ve never made a pimento mac and cheese – let alone in a giant squash vegetable. HOWEVER, the creaminess of the spaghetti squash & pimento cheese together is balanced out perfectly by the crunchy, pita & sage butter crumb topping.

makes 4 servings

2 spaghetti squashes (why does that sound so funny?)
olive oil
salt & pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cup milk (I used skim, use whatever you have!)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 oz cream cheese
4 oz jar pimento peppers (do not strain)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 cup pita chips, crushed
6 sprigs of fresh sage, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Cut both squashes in half long-ways and scrape out all the seeds and discard them
2. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil (don’t worry about measuring it) and rub the 4 squash halves all over it – turning and covering the squash in the oil. Season the inside of the squash with salt and pepper, turn cut side down on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until fork tender
3. While the squash is baking, start your pimento cheese sauce by making a roux (aka mixture of butter/flour)
4. Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat, once melted add minced garlic. Add flour when garlic has softened up a little bit.
5. Once the roux is thick and combined add milk, cheese, jar of pimentos (yep, just dump this right in), paprika, sriracha, salt & pepper; whisking while cheese melts. Add the cream cheese last and just keep whisking and taste testing ;)
6. When your spaghetti squash is done, scrape out all of the “noodles” with a fork. It’s the coolest thing ever! Save the squash halves because you’re going to put the noodles right back in after the next step…
7. Place spaghetti squash noodles in a strainer and wring out all of the excess water with paper towels – there’s gonna be A LOT of water! Do not skip this step because if ya do, you’re gonna have a soggy mess
8. Put the strained noodles back into your spaghetti squash halves, add cheese sauce and stir (use as much/little cheese as you want – judgement free zone)
9. Make the crumb topping by combining crushed pita chips, melted butter and sage – sprinkle on top of your boats and place back on baking sheet
10. Broil for 2-3 minutes and serve immediately! Enjoy!

Remember, you don’t have to follow recipes verbatim. They are simply an outline. Don’t have pita chips? Use any crackers or croutons you have lying around. Not wanting to deal with the spaghetti squash? I hear ya! Just use regular pasta/noodles instead. Dinner is what you make it. Not what the recipe makes it!