Karen Gorman and her team find interesting ways to dress up their signature spaghetti squash dish. Currently, the entree comes paired with roasted mushrooms and cauliflower, sauteed spinach and an arugula cream sauce, finished with oven-roasted chickpeas for some crunch. “We make our own everything-spice mix — it has onion, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds — and we toss [the chickpeas] in that,” she explains. “They have to go in the oven until they’re crispy.” 

Spaghetti Squash with Arugula | Makes 4 servings
Recipe courtesy of Crumb & Spigot

INGREDIENTS
1 4-pound spaghetti squash
1/2 head cauliflower (or about10 ounces), cored then sliced into half-inch pieces
12 ounces fresh spinach
10 ounces fresh shiitake or cremini mushrooms
Arugula sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Crispy chickpeas (recipe follows)

For the Mushrooms: Preheat oven to 450 F. Clean and stem the mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters if really large, otherwise leave whole. Toss mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in oven for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

For the Squash: Preheat oven to 350 F. Split the squash lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Roast in oven for about 30 minutes. Using a fork, shred the squash strings from the skin. Use a spoon to get out the last bits of squash. (This can be done ahead of time and the squash reheated at the time of serving.) Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

To Assemble:
Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat with olive oil. Add in cauliflower and let cook until browned on one side. Give the cauliflower a toss and season with salt and pepper. Let cook on the other side for a couple minutes, then add in the roasted mushrooms and spinach. Cook until spinach is just wilted and mushrooms are warmed through. Taste spinach for seasoning. Place about 1/3 cup of arugula sauce in the bottom of a bowl, top with cauliflower and spinach/mushroom saute, then place hot spaghetti squash strings on top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, goat cheese, a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper and crispy chickpeas.


Arugula Sauce | Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup raw or roasted cashews, soaked for 2 to 3 hours and drained
1/4 cup smoked almonds, soaked for 2 to 3 hours and drained
3/4 to 1 cup mushroom or vegetable stock
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoon tamari
1 1/2 cups arugula, packed
3/4 cup spinach, packed
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Puree nuts and half of the stock until very creamy in blender. Add in the rest of the ingredients and the remaining stock and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.


Crispy Chickpeas

INGREDIENTS
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and dried off
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Everything seasoning: equal parts sesame seed, granulated garlic, granulated onion and poppy seeds. (Crumb and Spigot grinds the mix into a powder because it adheres better in the oven.)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat the chickpeas in olive oil, salt, pepper and mix. Lay out on a sheet tray and roast in oven for 12 minutes, give a toss and roast another 12 minutes. Then toss and roast 12 minutes more. They will be brown and will crisp as they cool.