Chicken Parmesan Casserole

A delicious and comforting Sunday night meal, this grain-free and low carbohydrate take on chicken parmesan features the magical spaghetti squash. The mild-tasting and nutrient-dense vegetable is popular with parents and kids alike. When raw, the flesh of this winter squash is rather solid, but when cooked can be pulled into strands that have the texture of pasta without the high calories. All the fun of angel hair pasta with a fraction of the carbohydrates.

The coating for the chicken breasts is made from almond flour which, once fried briefly in a pan, provides the characteristic crispiness without added carbs or gluten. To further reduce the carbohydrates in this dish and make it truly keto-friendly, choose a low-sugar pasta sauce.

Herbamare, a herbed sea salt which naturally improves the flavour of any recipe, can be substituted with any good quality unrefined salt. For a dairy-free option, omit the cheese and after cooking sprinkle each serving with 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast.

• 2 spaghetti squash
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ tsp. Herbamere
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil/butter ghee
• 3 cups pasta sauce
• ½ cup parmesan cheese or raw milk cheddar, grated

Cook spaghetti squash.  (Cut in half and scoop out seeds.  Place a half inch of water in a baking dish and place squash seed side down.  Cover with foil and bake about an hour at 425°F or until squash is tender.)  With two forks scrape out squash.  Place in a large bowl and stir in a cup of the pasta sauce.  Grease a 9x13” casserole and place the squash mixture on the bottom.  Spoon a cup of sauce overtop.

Mix the Herbamere, pepper and garlic powder together with the almond flour.  Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise and dip into almond flour mixture.  In a skillet, melt the coconut oil/butter ghee.  Gently fry each piece of chicken 2-3 minutes on each side.  Remove to a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes at 325°F.  Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Place cut up chicken on top of squash mixture.  Cover with a cup of sauce and then sprinkle with cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 325°F for approx. 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit about 10 minutes before serving.