This is basically the spaghetti squash/crock pot version of spaghetti carbonara, and it’s totally good! It’s one of those semi-rare crock pot recipes that you can’t just plop in and come back to in 8-10 hours, but I’ll give some tips for adjusting the timing a bit at the end.

So many peas, my mom is hating this from afar!

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash, about 5 pounds
• 1 cup water
• 5 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping

Stab the spaghetti squash all over with a fork. Place the squash and the cup of water in the crock pot. Cover, and cook on high for 3 hours.

While the squash cooks, cook the bacon. You don’t need to get it fully crispy – it will cook further in the crock pot.

When the 3 hours are up, remove the squash from the crock pot, leaving the water in the crock. Cut the squash in half. Working around the seeds, scoop out the spaghetti strands and put them back in the crock pot.

Add the bacon, peas, cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook an additional 45-60 minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan, then cover and cook an additional 15 minutes, until the cheese has had a chance to melt. Serve with a bit more cheese, if desired, and enjoy.

If you want something you can do within an hour and a half after you’re home from work, you can cook the squash the night before, and combine the squash, bacon, peas, cream cheese, salt and pepper in the fridge overnight. The next day, cook for a full hour, then add the cheese and cook the remaining 15 minutes. I recommend combining them in a separate bowl, rather than the crock pot crock. While you could keep the mixture in the fridge in the crock (I actually checked the crock pot website and they’re ok with crocks going straight from the fridge into the heater part) it will add a fair amount to your cook time if the crock needs to come from cold to hot as well.

Once it’s made, leftovers nuke back up just fine.

Crock Pot Creamy Spaghetti Squash with Peas and Bacon

From Cooktop Cove.

• 1 spaghetti squash, about 5 pounds
• 1 cup water
• 5 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping

Stab the spaghetti squash all over with a fork. Place the squash and the cup of water in the crock pot. Cover, and cook on high for 3 hours. While the squash cooks, cook the bacon.

When the 3 hours are up, remove the squash from the crock pot, leaving the water in the crock. Cut the squash in half. Working around the seeds, scoop out the spaghetti strands and put them back in the crock pot.  Add the bacon, peas, cream cheese, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook an additional 45-60 minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan, then cover and cook an additional 15 minutes, until the cheese has had a chance to melt. Serve with a bit more cheese, if desired, and enjoy.