Creamy Squash Orzo

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 3 cups dry orzo pasta
• 1 small spaghetti squash (any winter squash will be fine but spaghetti is my favorite)
• 4 ounces plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup of raw almonds
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley

Recipe

• 1 cook orzo pasta according to package instructions.
• 2 preheat the oven to 400 degrees f, cut squash into half, place in the ovenproof dish skin side up with a bit of water on a bottom and bake 30-40 minute. wrap garlic gloves in greased aluminum foil and bake on a rack together with squash.
• 3 take out squash and garlic from the oven and let them cool. when cold enough to handle scoop out the seeds from the squash and throw them away. using fork take out the inside of the squash into a bowl.
• 4 add squash into a food processor. cut off the stems from each garlic clove and squeeze out of its skin into a food processor. combine with greek yogurt, almonds, salt and pepper and process until smooth.
• 5 in a pot mix with orzo, parsley and add more salt or pepper if necessary. heat slightly and serve.
• 6 tip: i tried making this dish with other type of pasta, i think elbows and it did not work that well. i mean it worked great when it was eaten right away but when i left a portion for the next day it became a bit lumpy and elbows became somehow overcooked so if you want to make more for the next day do not combine all the sauce with pasta at once, leave some separate for the next day and combine just before eating. plus i think it just looks and tastes better with orzo but you can experiment with other types of pasta. when combined with elbows it becomes healthier version of mac & cheese. also it might be good to substitute almonds for parmesan.