Spinach Artichoke Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This is a slightly more involved (and slightly less healthy) riff on my Spaghetti [Squash] Pie. So I've had this can of artichokes sitting in my pantry since the spring. I don't buy artichokes often, but I had added it onto an Amazon Fresh order when we were scared of going to the grocery store, in order to meet the minimum. There was a period early on when EVERYONE was getting online groceries and things kept going in and out of stock and they didn't have much selection. I remember looking through all the departments just to find something in stock to add on to meet the minimum. Hence, canned artichokes.

Then I remembered spinach artichoke dip is delicious - I'm not sure I've ever made it, but seemed like a good cold weather casserole thing. And a spaghetti squash came from Hungry Harvest, so...mix em up! According to the internet I'm not the first person to have this idea, and recipes I found varied a lot. Some use cream cheese and/or sour cream, some use a white sauce, some factor in mayonnaise (which I think is traditional for the dip). As per usual, I made up my own thing.

I added chicken to this, but that's totally optional - easy to keep vegetarian. And like with the Spaghetti Squash Pie, you can use all spaghetti squash for the base and keep it slightly healthier/gluten free. I like to add some angel hair pasta to make it a little more substantial. I recommend seeing how much "spaghetti" you get out of your squash and then judge your quantity of angel hair. The squash I used was pretty big, so I used about 1/3 a box of angel hair.

Warning: as was observed by another eater, this does look a bit like "android guts" when you cut into it. But it's delicious!

- 1 spaghetti squash: halved, cleaned, roasted & forked into strands (more info here). 
- 1 large chicken breast, seasoned & cooked as desired - cube or shred (optional)
- 1/3 - 1/2 box angel hair pasta, cooked until just al dente (optional)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch or small bag spinach, washed & chopped (or use frozen spinach)
- 1 can artichoke hearts (packed in water - not the marinated kind), drained & chopped
- 1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- grated italian cheese blend or mozzarella (I used most of a small bag)

Put your cooked spaghetti squash strands in a large bowl. Add cooked angel hair, season with a little salt, and toss together with 2 forks until combined.

Saute onion in olive oil until lightly cooked. Add garlic & stir for about a minute. Add spinach & cook until just wilted. Add chopped artichokes and cooked chicken, turn the heat off.

Mix together softened cream cheese, sour cream, garlic powder & some salt & pepper (I added some cayenne as well). Add to squash/pasta mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Add spinach/artichoke mixture. Taste and make sure it's seasoned how you want it.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan and add in the mixture, spreading it out evenly. Top with grated cheese. Bake in a 375 oven for about 30 minutes. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes before serving.