Fast Ed’s healthy pasta

BHG TV’s ‘Fast Ed’ Halmagyi updates a popular prawn dish

This recipe reinvents one of my all-time favourite northern Italian pasta dishes in a far healthier way. It uses spaghetti squash in place of pasta and because we extract all the flavour of the prawn shells

(no waste here) it’s saltfree. The sauce uses light evaporated milk instead of cream, so all you need to do is add heaps of greens and dig in.

Roasted spaghetti squash with prawns and spinach

PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINS COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR SERVES 6 (AS A LIGHT MEAL)

2kg (1 whole) spaghetti squash 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 24 small prawns, peeled and deveined, (approx 500g, shells reserved) 8 garlic cloves, chopped

2 thyme sprigs

12 black peppercorns

1 dried red chilli

750ml (3 cups) water

250ml (1 cup) light

evaporated milk

1 red onion, finely diced

3 cups mixed farm greens (baby kale, baby spinach, beetroot leaf, broccoli leaf, baby chard) 1 bunch parsley leaves, chopped ¼ cup walnuts, toasted, chopped 1 large beetroot, cut into batons

and tossed in 1 tsp olive oil 1 bunch dill, chopped

1 Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthways and remove seeds. Rub with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil, then arrange in a lined oven tray and bake for 1 hour, until squash is tender. Set aside.

2 Meanwhile, chop the prawn shells then sauté in 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a medium saucepan for 3 minutes. Add half the garlic. Add the thyme, peppercorns and chilli, then cook for 3 more minutes. Pour in water and bring to a rapid boil. Cook, skimming from time to time, until reduced to 1 cup. Add the evaporated milk and simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Strain through a fine sieve into a separate bowl. Set aside.

3 Sauté onion, and remaining garlic in the remaining olive oil for 3 minutes, until aromatic, then add prawns and cook for 2 minutes until firm. Pour in the sauce, and simmer until beginning to thicken, about 5 minutes. Stir in greens and parsley until wilted. Remove from the heat.

4 Use two forks to scrape the squash into threads, then gently mix into sauce with walnuts, beetroot and dill. Serve.