Spaghetti Squash-Coconut Custard Pie

Do you remember this old Weight Watcher's recipe? Spaghetti squash virtually replaces all the high calorie, high fat coconut and you still have a delicious coconut custard pie that satisfies that dessert craving. As spaghetti squash tends to take on the flavors around it, its flavor is barely discernible. Ole Sweetie-Pi, who doesn't like squash anything, liked this.

Start by preparing your spaghetti squash. I cook mine whole. There are a number of ways to prepare it. You can boil it whole in a pot of water for about an hour or until it pierces easily with a knife. Or place on a baking sheet, and bake at 375F for an hour, or you can put it on a microwave safe dish, microwave it on high maybe for 15 minutes or so. If you choose to bake or microwave it, make sure and pierce it all over to let the steam escape or you might have a squash explosion from the steam that builds up inside the squash. You can also cut the squash into half and proceed, which will reduce preparation time, but you will need a sharp cleaver and the arms and strength of a WWF wrestler.

Once it's softened, let this cool, as the squash will be too hot to handle comfortably. Once cool, you can cut it open, scrape out the seeds and stringy stuff, discard them, and what you have remaining is some nice pulp. With a fork, scrape out the pulp, (it should come off in nice shreds) and proceed with the rest of the recipe. I made the squash the night before, let it cool overnight.

Whew! The good news is, this pie needs no crust!

Now for the pie recipe.

Spaghetti Squash-Coconut Custard Pie

2 cups skimmed milk
6 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash
A little grated coconut to sprinkle on top

Put all ingredients (except the spaghetti squash and the coconut) into a blender or food processor (or just mix well in a large bowl). Blend or process for three minutes until smooth. Stir in squash. Pour into a deep-dish 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Sprinkle a little coconut on top. Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center come out clean.

Now, you'll notice that this recipe does not call for sugar, so for me it was not quite sweet enough. I think I'll add a small amount of coconut into the batter to add sweetness and also to amp up the coconut flavor because my favorite part was those little bits of coconut that were sprinkled on top.

Grins. Is that defeating the purpose of the recipe?