Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour total
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 spaghetti or orangetti squash
- 1 large eggplant (sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds)
- 3/4 cup of your favorite breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon dried italian seasoning
- 1.5 cups of your favorite pasta sauce (homemade recipe coming soon!)
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil (optional for garnish)
- Olive oil
- Salt + Pepper
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
- Place the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet and pour water around the pan to cover the bottom. (The water is optional but helps the squash stay tender).
- Cook the squash 30-45 minutes until tender so that you can easily stick a fork in it and pull out the strands.
- While your squash is cooking, mix the breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning together in a shallow bowl.
- Crack eggs into a separate shallow bowl.
- Dip your eggplant rounds in the egg mixture to coat and then the breadcrumb mixture so that they are evenly breaded. Place the rounds on an oiled baking sheet.
- Bake eggplant rounds at 400 degree F (with the squash if needed) for 15- 20 minutes until browned and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
- Once the squash is done cooking, let it cool for about 15 minutes. Next, scrape out the meat of the squash and put it into a separate bowl. Lightly coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- LAYER! Layer your boat however you like. I layer the squash first, then mozzarella cheese, then sauce, then 1/2 of the parmesan, then the eggplant, then the other 1/2 of the parmesan.
- Bake the completed squash boat for an extra 10-15 minutes on 400 degrees F to melt the cheese!
- Garnish with fresh basil.