Spaghetti Squash Crostini- you heard me.

This idea came to me out of desperation and curiosity. I was invited to a work potluck and we all were asked to chose a dish from another country and bring it. I failed. HAHA. I mean the dish was great, but I have no idea as to where it would 'originate' from, especially because I made it up! Oh well; I was able to scribble something down on the dish's i.d. card and didn't really answer any questions. Thank goodness!

For this, I started out with some bread I made a long time ago, but froze the dough. So all I had to do was let it raise and bake it. Then I sliced it and drizzled it with olive oil and toasted it in the oven. Easy. Standard.

For the topping you will need:

~Black beans
~Roasted red peppers
~s/p
~Roasted onion, equal amount as peppers (find recipe for roasted onions in later post)
( keep separate )

~Spaghetti Squash, cooked and pulled
~Apple cider vinegar
~Italian parsley, fresh
~s/p
~smoked paprika
~Freshly chopped garlic cloves
~Roasted squash seeds, recipe to follow post

As mentioned, I used bread I had made already. This was a much lamer decision than it sounds, I was lazy and didn't feel like driving to the store and really needed the extra space in my freezer! Don't hold it against me! But as those were toasting I prepared the squash and bean paste. So easy.

Beans:
Drain and rinse your beans, put in your peppers and onions and all the other ingredients and smash into a paste... Right? I used my food processor, again, I'm lazy. Once you have it in a 'mushed up' state, set it aside.

Squash:
So the squash is easy to cook. Cut in two, scrape out the seeds and lose fibers and KEEP. Place the squash halves, cut side down, into a glass baking dish. Splash about 1/4' water in the bottom and bake at 400d for a long time... until a knife can go through easily. The best part is that if you under cook it, you can always put it back and cook it some more! When you pull it out you should be able to take a fork and easily scrape away the squash insides. If you are working at it, bake it some more! Pull off as much of the 'spaghetti' as you can and set aside. Let this cool before you add any seasoning.

Once the 'squashetti' is cool, you can start adding in the seasoning. Throw in the vinegar, s/p, paprika and garlic, mix well. Roughly chop the parsley and mix it in as well. And, as with all my cooking, dress this to taste. You are going to be eating it so make sure you are going to like it!

Toasted Seeds:
If you roasted the onions already, hopefully you didn't do dishes yet. The pan would be perfect for roasting your squash seeds. This part gets messy, but is very worth while! Get your hands dirty and start going though the insides of the squash, separating the seeds form the slimy, fibrous innards. You can chuck the slime and rinse the seeds and pat dry with a paper towel. Then toss them onto the pan you roasted the onions on. The olive oil left, flavored with roasted onions, will add so much to the seeds. I always top them with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. And if you know me, you know I always throw in some cayenne pepper for some heat. Toss them though the oil and seasonings so they are all coated and toast them in the oven at 350d until golden brown and crunchy. So good as a snack or to top these crostini!


Now time for the bread! Spread a little bean first, pile on the 'squashetti' and top with the seeds and a little dusting of cayenne. Serve as soon after assembling as possible! Delicious!